


0 Chance of Leaving You

by WildcatPacer



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben Solo Needs A Hug, F/M, Force-Sensitive Finn (Star Wars), Jedi Finn (Star Wars), Kylo Ren and Rey Are Not Related, M/M, Redeemed Ben Solo, Rey Needs A Hug, Reylofest, Virgin Rey (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:33:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26338816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildcatPacer/pseuds/WildcatPacer
Summary: I wanted to do a fix-it TROS story in which Ben survives and he and Rey separate temporarily, while he goes into exile and she returns to the Resistance. Can Rey and Ben's true love conquer the aftermath of war and a lack of understanding? Finn's Jedi training sequence, Rey's talk with Lando and the meeting with Poe and Finn all borrowed from serafine's excellent fic Stay With Me.
Relationships: Finn/Original Character(s), Finn/Rey (Star Wars), Rey/Ben Solo, Zorii Bliss/Poe Dameron
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: For The Good Of Us**

When Palpatine had first cast him into that pit, Ben had finally come to appreciate the experience behind that oft-used phrase, about seeing one's life "flash in front of your eyes."

Hurtling through the air, the image of Rey's horrified and stricken expression burning into his retinas, the sum of those moments in time, played back at a pace sickeningly, almost cartoonishly, sped up, had - for the first time - left much to be desired.

He was two and clapping his hands with glee at the Harris wrench floating effortlessly off the ground and in front of his face - more than one of his earliest memories, it was his earliest interactions in channeling and using the Force.

He was five and bouncing on his Uncle Chewie's shoulders, the giant Wookie taking him on a furry joyride that careened through the corridors of the Falcon, both boy and beast pointedly ignoring the pleas of his father, Han, for them to stop and mind the hypo-transfillibrators. Chewie never listened, having long passed the point of treating the old freighter with the care it deserved, except when the need for repairs was too blatant for even him to ignore. Decades of familiarity with her hull, combined with a supreme confidence in her abilities, had allowed for Chewie to treat the _Falcon_ as a child would treat his or her bedroom - a trait that had sadly seemed to have been passed down to his successors as co-pilot.

He was seven and curled up in the fetal position on his bed, entombed in the darkness that did not help to alleviate the whisperings in his ears, in his very soul, about his parents not loving him and who could now be arguing over him in the master bedroom just down the hall. The voice caressed him with the sweet nothings and tone normally attributed to a lover, telling Ben that his parents feared him, they were right to fear him, and he could achieve power that could justify that fear. To be feared was to be respected, the voice said.

More than once that night, Ben wished that he at the very least had a nightlight. Except the strongest nightlight could not drive away the darkness that was slowly encircling his heart like a noose.

He was twelve, and -

 _GAHHHH!_ The cry of pain was silent, but cast through his brain en route from the spasm of liquid fire in his back and spine, burning through him like a lightning bolt. He must have hit a crag in the rocks on his way down. Through the Force Bond, a yip of fear could be heard, a deluge of passionate and horrified concern dunking him in a soft cocoon that was warm and distinctly feminine. Rey was terrified for him, even as her own life force was being sucked out of her, and she was being made to face her doom.

A grandfather murdering his granddaughter, his only grandchild. How cruel.

He was twelve, and in his hut on Ahch-To, bitter resentment and rage overwhelming him as he went down the rabbit hole of every article he could get his hands on about his mother's parentage being revealed, scrolling through text on his datapad that he could read but still struggled to comprehend. Outside the flap of bantha skin leading into his quarters, the other Padawans at the temple whispered behind his back, eyes huge with alarm. _Scion of Vader_ , they gossiped. _Dangerous_ , they all concluded.

He was a young man of twenty-four, watching the plasma green of his uncle's lightsaber bearing down on him - an attack that he only just managed to block in time - then the rocks of his hut collapsing in on them both.

By now, Ben was free-falling, the wind howling in his ears, having bypassed the speed for terminal velocity some time ago. Every pit had a bottom, it was said (with the exception of a man's stomach). Any moment now, his body would be crumpled and splashed along the jagged rocks of this pit. Death, he knew, was but seconds away.

So it was fitting that his final memory before he went none-too-gently into that good night... was a happy one.

He was twenty-nine, poised to become the most fearsome tyrant this galaxy had ever seen since the days of his grandfather, stalking through the woods of Takodana with a crackling blade of red at his hip. One blaster shot, then another, whizzed past his head and he threw out the Force with his hand, to capture in its embrace... _her_. The most beautiful creature he had ever seen, despite her tragically plain clothes. Skin white as the snows of Mygeeto, and unblemished, he had vaguely wondered if she was an angel. He'd heard tell of such heavenly beings, that they lived on the moons of Iego and were the most beautiful creatures in all the worlds of the galaxy. The fear was omnipresent in her lovely face, but not in her soul. The fierceness in her heart blazed bright, surging the Light within her and making her all the more... luminous.

From that moment on, he had been enchanted. Entranced. He watched seemingly from outside his own body, as the girl swooned in his arms and he carried her off like a bride newly married and feeling faint after giving her vows.

Ben held that last image there, behind his closed eyelids, until another image just as gorgeous superimposed over it: the picture of Rey's face brimming with pride, upon realizing that he had come to stand with her against her grandfather. No one had ever looked at him like that... and no one ever would again.

The cushion of air rushing up to meet him yet doing nothing to break his fall was growing cooler now. Yet Ben felt himself relax, strangely at peace and ready to join the Force.

_Rey, I lo -_

There was a jarring thud, followed by the most intense pain he had ever experienced, and everything went black.

When he came to, an indeterminable amount of time later, fire and voltage scorched under his very skin, delivering pain that was terrific. He could feel the soreness all over, which meant he wasn't dead. His vision was hazy - everything seemed pulled back, elongated, like some kind of tunnel vision. His ears were ringing, yet in between these rings, he could hear the crackle of Sith lightning, Rey's screams and Palpatine's maniacal laughter.

And between _those_ sounds, he could hear a voice - a woman's voice, sweet and aged and kind, yet adamant and insistent.

_Get up. Get up, Ben!_

Ben slapped one palm into the pit's floor - not jagged with stalagmites, as he had supposed, but flat shale. His muscles and bones shrieked in protest as he lifted himself up first into a kneeling, and then a standing position. The fire in his veins took permanent residence in his lower left leg - he just knew his ankle was broken. Yet despite this, Ben willed his gaze to slowly clear back into focus, beholding the sheer cliff face of rock that stood between him and the young woman who had become the sun of his galaxy. Hazel pupils darted to identify handholds and footholds and Ben frantically began to climb, despite his injury.

His broken left ankle significantly impeded his progress, but he doggedly refused to stop. Hand over hand, he scrambled, cursing the spasms in nerve endings that joined in to torture him - a remnant of the Force lightning. Ben had heard his Uncle Luke talk of such phenomena and honestly wished that he had studied it more both under his and then Snoke's tutelage.

Ben must have been halfway up the wall, maybe five-eighths (he couldn't be exactly sure) when the high-pitched screams abruptly ceased, snuffed out like the flame of a candle. Almost at the same moment, above him, the flashes of Force lightning that had illuminated the pit also disappeared as quickly as they had come, plunging him into near-total darkness.

As he had nearly every day for the past year, Ben reached out desperately for the soothing feel of Rey in their Bond... and was shaken to find that she wasn't there.

Sheer panic overtook him, the adrenaline propelling him the rest of the way up with speed so dizzying and deliberate that when he slapped a triumphant hand onto the edge of the pit and heaved himself over that last ridge, he couldn't remember exactly how he got there.

All that he could think about was the crumpled form lying so impossibly still several hundred yards away. For just a moment, the tunnel vision was back, zooming in on the soft creature like a holocamera set to its highest ratio.

Ben ached. All over, he ached, his left ankle especially and now even more unhelpful as he hobbled to where his slain princess lay. But nowhere did he ache more than in his heart - a heart that had once been cracked but still painstakingly mended by the fallen angel now at his feet.

Rey was lying on her side, one arm draped out, the dainty fingers in her small hands slumping and far too slack. Collapsing to his knees before her, Ben tenderly turned the Jedi onto her back, ever so careful not to hurt her, and gathered her up in his arms. He held her head in the crook of his neck, his eyes wide and simpering with grief, and when Rey's body sagged back, her skull lolled dangerously to one side, those brilliant pools of brown were just as wide.

And all too unseeing. She looked so tiny, languishing in death...

Panic was not a strong enough word for what Ben felt now. The hole where she had used to be in their Bond was as void as the treacherous black holes in the Kessel Run, the emptiness of it piercing into him from all sides like a knife. He was in hysterics, casting his eyes about for someone, _anyone_ , to help, but there was no one there.

The arena of the Sith Citadel was deathly still, the quiet deafening. So unused to quietness had Ben become that he had developed a palpable dislike for it - the side effect of a lifetime of voices in his head.

There was one voice he would give anything to hear in his head, but she wasn't answering.

No one was answering. No one was coming to help. If there was any hope of bringing the woman he loved back, Ben was going to have to do it on his own.

So laying a hand on her midsection - stained with blood from an injury whose source he couldn't identify - Ben bowed his head and called on the Force to help him.

He poured all the power of the Force at his command, all his knowledge of it, into healing this woman and reviving her. He poured all his love for her into the act, feeling the might course through him.

The seconds ticked by. For many, long moments, everything was still, including Rey's body - still lukewarm in his arms.

_Rey... Don't leave me..._

Then -

A hand, soft as silk, brushed the one at her belly to cover his own calloused palm.

Opening his eyes, glancing down to her in surprise, Ben watched awestruck as Rey's eyes blinked. Then she lifted her head, her body flooding with heat as her limbs became liberated from their rigamortis so that she sat up in a sitting position. Though her bewitching brown eyes remained wide, they could see and were alive with expression, as she stared at him in bewilderment. Ben stared right back, drinking in her, searching her face.

Rey gazed at him with a softness that to Ben was blissfully smothering, and then...

She smiled at him, adorable dimples making it wide and dazzling, as her crystalline voice formed one, breathless word:

"Ben..."

Rey's smile - the radiance of it - nearly took Ben's breath away. He grinned weakly back as her hand drifted up to softly cradle his cheek.

Rey held back for a moment, and the first thing that Ben felt broadcasting over her Bond was that she was feeling quite shy. Then a bolt of courage banished this as she surged forward and fiercely shoved her lips against his.

Her kiss was wild and desperate. It was also delightfully clumsy, which told Ben that this was her first time kissing a man. And wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, she had chosen to kiss _him_!

Ben exuberantly dragged Rey close, holding her tightly and furiously kissing her back. At some point, his eyes had drifted shut, and he didn't care if he ever learned to open them again.

After several sunny days, Ben and Rey broke apart, Ben's meaty fingers having fallen into her hair, to play with the chestnut strands escaping her three elegant buns. Rey's luminous expression of delirious joy faltered just a bit. In her chocolate irises, there was a question - a question which rang clear as morning glow through their Bond:

_Is this all right?_

Ben beamed. He full-on _beamed_ and chuckled in answer. What a question! This was everything he wished and more! Rey weakly smiled back. She shifted in his lap awkwardly, though her smile was still blinding.

"Let's get out of here."

"Gladly."

Feeling her squirming again, restless to get up, Ben rose through the pain in his left ankle (the rest of the wounds on his body had dulled into a throbbing ache), taking her with him. Sweeping Rey off her feet, he cradled her close to his chest. She let out an adorable squeal of surprise, looping her arms about his neck. Nestled against him, Rey had eyes only for her handsome rescuer as he swept her away.

The tableau was markedly different from the last time he had carried her off, Ben noted. For one thing, she was ever so slightly heavier. He kept this thought concealed and quiet from their Bond, lest he offend her. But on Takodana, she had weighed practically nothing in his arms. Her body then had been thin and waifish, criminally malnourished. Now, there was lean and firm muscle to her, lending to voluptuous and womanly curves in her body that suited her quite nicely. A year of hearty eating and good training with the Resistance had done wonders for her. He vowed to cook for her even better, he vowed. Feed her so that she would never go hungry again, bolstering her with any diet that she might fancy, whether that be food for the stomach, heart or soul. And perhaps even a diet that could only be sated from between her legs...

The imagining of lying in bed with her, ravishing her between the sheets, flashed through his mind with an amber glow. Rey's face had barely creased into a bemused frown before he was sealing off this lecherous thought like a steel trap. There would be time to _talk_ of such things later.

They were out of the arena now, strolling almost blithely past the contorted heaps that were the corpses of the Knights of Ren. Rey only took her eyes off of Ben to take in the horrifying sight as they passed. Ben squeezed her tighter to him.

"I had to get to you. Nothing was going to keep me from you."

He felt her breath hitch, and touched tenderness seep into his half of the Bond.

Nestled against him, Rey nuzzled her cheek into the crook of his neck, sighing happily. "I knew you'd come for me."

He grinned dolefully down at her.

Rey and Ben finally arrived at the imposing statue which he had flung himself into and then scrabbled down upon first arriving on-world. Coming to a halt, Ben worried his bottom lip. This was going to be the far most difficult part. The Bond bathed him in Rey's loving concern, and her lips stole across his mouth as she kissed him quickly, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

The term of endearment sounded like sweet music from her lips, and Ben nearly dropped her as he shivered in delight. Rolling his left foot, the pain blazed from his ankle again and he winced. "I think my ankle's broken. It's hurt badly."

Rey disquietly squirmed in his arms again. "Let me heal you..." she whined.

"Nonsense, love. You're still far too weak. Your life force and strength must return to you." Kriff, he was pretty drained himself, from reviving her. If he was stronger, this situation would demand a Force leap, but in his diminished state, that was decidedly out of the question. He clutched her close. "Hang on tight." Rey's grip tightened around his neck, and keeping her buoyed with just one hand under her waist, Ben began free-soloing up the statue with his free hand.

It was slow-going, even slower than climbing out of the pit, but Rey was warmly encouraging and supportive. She kept him distracted from the pain in his leg by prattling on about everything she could think of. Finally, swinging off the statue and to flat ground once more, Ben cut her off with a chaste peck on the lips.

"Do you _ever_ stop talking?" his grin twinkled down at her.

Her brown orbs blinked at him, and she smiled bashfully. "It's nice to finally have someone to talk to." As they limped out of the Sith Temple, she continued to ramble adorably, "Finny's eyes seem to glaze over after I've been talking for about ten minutes, and Poe's attention span is even shorter. He never says it, but in reading his thoughts, he thinks I can be a nag..."

"No! Really?" Ben asked facetiously. She swatted at him.

"Shut up." Though her cheeks flushed pink. Snuggling deeper into him, she continued to babble, "I'll have to introduce you when we get back to Ajan Kloss..."

Ben said nothing, keeping his face resolutely placid. He wasn't very much looking forward to meeting her so-called friends - that arrogant pilot Dameron and the traitor, FN-2187. And he wasn't under any delusions that introductions would be so innocent as Rey seemed to believe, talking about bringing her two worlds together as though she was taking him home to meet her folks. And besides...

"I will not be going back with you to Ajan Kloss."

Rey stilled against him at this, her voice trailing off. "What? Why not?"

Willing himself to glance down at her, fighting back the tears, Ben swallowed hard. The adrenaline of rising from the pit, of reviving her, had worn off considerably so that his emotional pain rushed to catch up with him. The agony brought on by the crushing weight of everything he had done. Gazing at Rey, her pretty mouth agape, Ben told her sadly, "I have to go off and be by myself for a while."

Tears glistened in Rey's pupils, slipping down to cling to her cheeks. "You're _leaving_? You're leaving me?"

"Not forever," Ben promised her, as they came to a halt in front of the TIE fighter and Luke's X-Wing, parked side by side, and he gallantly set her down like a gentleman. "If I were to try to return with you now, they would arrest me immediately, if they even let you into camp first. I couldn't bear to burden you with that pain."

The strickeness, the fear, flashed across Rey's face like a lightning strike, and she chewed on her bottom lip. "You could never bring me pain," Rey shook her head, sending him an easy smile that faded quickly. "But... you're right... I'll go back alone. Feel things out. Then signal you to come to me when it's safe."

Ben didn't bother to cut her optimism that things for him would _ever_ be safe, as she nudged him towards the X-Wing.

"Take Luke's ship. You'll be safer in that."

He peered up at the old hull dubiously and with a hint of disdain. Of _course_ this was _his_ X-Wing. "What about you?" he turned back to her in concern. "You try to enter camp in a TIE, you'll be shot out of the air."

"No, I won't." She shrugged with a hint of bravado.

Ben snorted. "You sound so sure."

"That's because I am," she quipped prissily. He couldn't help but smirk. Gazing into his eyes for a moment, Rey suddenly let out a strangled gasp and smushing his face in her hands, pulled him in for a frantic kiss. Their lips came together in a give-and-take that eased into short, desperate pecks. "Be careful," she implored. Searching his face, she asked, "Where will you go?"

"Naboo. I know a place of my ancestors where I can stay. I'll wear a disguise, register false ID docs at the landing platform before making my way to the estate."

She nodded, squeezing his hand. "Soon as I can, I _will_ send for you!"

He grinned at her with undying love. "I know you will." Suddenly picking her up and spinning her around, Ben pressed Rey into the hull of the X-Wing and kissed her breathless. She melted instantly, _moaning_ , and returned his kiss with fervor.

When they finally broke apart, gasping, Ben lowered her back to the ground, holding her eyes. "And don't forget these names: Theed City. Varykino. That's where I'll go."

She nodded. "And where you go, there I'll be. I'll see you tonight... in my dreams." It sounded romantic and sappy, even to her own ears, but she was so in love, Rey didn't much care.

Ben looked nearly delirious, and they leaned in and kissed each other goodbye. Climbing into the X-Wing, Ben paused at the call of his name at his back.

"Ben!"

He turned.

Rey smiled softly. "I love you," she whispered.

He grinned smugly. "I know. I love you too." And hopping into the cockpit, he took to the skies.

As he flew out of sight, he felt the Bond shiver at the soft touch of Rey's blown parting kiss caressing him.


	2. Last Will and Testament

**Chapter 2: Last Will and Testament**

Whereas Exogol had been as black as the long night-cycle during which she arrived to face down a Sith Lord (and briefly died in the attempt), the planet of Ajan Kloss was a green marble bathed in the shining light of day. Dropping out of hyperspace and seeing the world come into her viewfinder, Rey's heart swelled at the sight.

Coming into orbit, and taxing the landing gear down through the jungle trees, Rey could hear the cheers of her comrades from down below clearly, even through the circular, transparisteel glass hatch that she now raised before climbing out of the cockpit and descending the pylon. Immediately, she was swarmed by friends and allies, but scanning her face through the crowd, a patch of congealed blood still on her temple, there were only two people she wanted to see most in the galaxy.

Other than, of course, the man she had kissed and for whom she had confessed her love before letting him flee.

She locked eyes with Finn first, and his signature in the Force sang with a confidence she had never felt from him before. When he pelted towards her and swept her into a hug that briefly lifted her off her feet, she buried her nose into his chest. Sweet, dearest Finn... he smelled of home...

"Finny..." She frowned a little as she felt his muscles vibrating against and around her, and when she drew back, she chuckled in amused embarrassment when she found that he was sobbing. "Oh, Finny!... Don't cry..."

"I can't help it!" The tears water-logging his throat had raised his voice to nearly a squeak. "You _died_! You were _dead_! I felt it!" Growling, he shook her. "Don't you ever _scare_ me like that again, young lady!"

Drawing back even further to peer into his face, hands resting lightly on his chest, Rey's eyes scanned him. The Force swelled between them, the confidence from Finn now spiked with a potent combination of terror and relief.

"Why do you feel so at peace...?" he rumbled, half to himself.

Rey gasped as realization dawned. "You can sense me in the Force...?"

Before he could answer, Rey grunted, Finn nearly toppling forward into her as a third body careened into their embrace. The distinct smell of aftershave and sweat that could only come from a pilot flooded her nostrils. A strong kiss planted into her hair.

"You did it! I knew you could do it, Rey! I just _knew_ it!" Poe was hollering.

She giggled, reaching an arm around to bring him into the fold of this little group hug. "Hi, Poe." For the first time, she allowed the exhaustion, the weariness, to creep into her voice.

"This idiot says you died for a moment!" Poe was babbling, nearly tripping over his words in his haste to get them out. "He nearly went mad with grief! And that was after he managed to sense the fleet's transponder codes switching back and forth like he was a kriffing homing beacon..."

Rey didn't understand half of what he was saying, but figured there was time and place enough to ask for more details. So she just yanked both the boys back into a giant hug, rocking a little on the spot. Through the tangle of limbs, Finn was resting his chin on the top of her head, his mouth in a taut and quivering line as he blinked back further tears.

Only when it felt like their muscles were in danger of being crushed did the trio disengage from the embrace. Finn stayed within arm's reach of his best friend, though, looking like he never wanted to let her out of his sight again. Rey refrained from worrying her bottom lip or giving any of her emotions away on her face. With Finn being Force-sensitive, she now knew it would be much harder to keep her affair and romance with Ben a secret. Even without the Force, Finn had always been naturally inquisitive, and ever since they had met on Jakku, they were naturally attuned to each other. His concern for her knew no bounds.

Which was proven by the question he asked of her next: "What the kriff happened out there, Rey?"

Rey was gnawing her lip so tightly now, she was afraid of drawing blood. She was saved from answering by Beaumont Kin, rust-colored curls bouncing as he raced up to the three, panting. Kaydel Kol Connix was right at his side.

"Generals! Master Jedi... if I could have a word with you in private in General Organa's study, there is an urgent matter that needs to be discussed with you..."

A sharp pang of grief zig-zagged through Rey like a thunderbolt, and just like that she was back on Kef Bir, in the moment when she first felt her mentor slipping away. _Leia_... Shaking her head to clear the fresh round of tears, she glanced between her best friends in amazement. "Did... did he just call you Generals?"

"Co-Generals," Poe smiled, though his eyes were sad. "Come with us."

* * *

A few minutes later, Rey, Finn, Poe and Beaumont were gathered in the late Leia Organa's small office. Despite her high command, Leia had eschewed the notion of having spacious living and work quarters, preferring instead to be granted the same level of accommodations as the troops she commanded. Unfortunately, that meant the gathering was dangerously close to cramped, as Rose, Kaydel Kol Connix, the ex-Stormtrooper girl from Kef Bir - Jannah, that bounty hunter Zorii, C-3PO, and Maz Kanata were present as well.

Behind the late General's desk, Beaumont accepted and unrolled the document that Poe had unlocked and retrieved from a safe in one corner.

The archivist then pressed a button on his personal holo. "Let the record show that the following meeting is being recorded, wherein we shall be discussing the final wishes of the late Leia Organa Solo, General of the Resistance and Princess of the Royal House of Alderaan."

"Hold up: you're an executor?" Finn asked. "Don't you have to have a license for that?"

"I have a certificate from Cloud City University. I thought it would be useful to obtain for the purpose of handling ancient documents," Beaumont explained. "May I please continue?"

Finn raised his hands in supplication. Beaumont now bent over the parchment Poe had presented before him.

" _To Whom It May Concern:_

_The under-enumerated dictate my final wishes for any and all personal belongings ascribed to me following my death. My estate and personal treasures are to be distributed to the following persons/parties:_

_To the Jedi Knight, Rey Palpatine_ -"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" Poe exploded in astonished horror, and a chorus of voices went up as everyone but Rey clamored nearer to the desk to read those damning words in ink; Finn nearly vaulted over the desk to get a better look. Rey remained frozen at her chair, her face white. Of course, she should have expected this, to some degree; Luke had told her on Ahch-To that both he and Leia had known of her ancestry... and still trained her anyway.

Finn whirled back to his best friend. "Did you know about this?"

Blinking back tears, Rey nodded, her brown irises paralyzed with fear. She could easily imagine a scenario where Poe or Beaumont demanded that she be written out of the will, Leia's final wishes be damned. Of course, the thought never occurred to her that that would be illegal, especially after the deceased in question had passed.

"Do you hate me?" Her voice was whimpering and small, like a child's.

Poe blinked, any anger he might have possessed draining from his face. "What? No..."

"Of course, of _course_ we don't..." Finn crooned, kneeling before her chair and taking her hands in his, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. "You didn't ask to be born to... to that monster..." It had frightened him enough that his friend had had to face down such an odious Sith Lord. To now realize that she had had to face her own flesh and blood. The thought churned his stomach. "We know that's not who you are, deep down inside... You chose the Light. That in itself is a tremendous thing."

Rey whimpered. "So... so you won't send me away?"

"Never," Finn whispered fiercely. Rey beamed at him wetly, bending down to press a kiss to his forehead.

Leaning against one wall, Zorii Bliss snorted. "Maybe we should. She could turn right around on us and become the next Empress."

At the word 'Empress', Finn felt Rey's hands twitch in his as she noticeably flinched and he frowned in deep worry. Hovering above Beaumont's seat, Poe shot Zorii a glare before wincing back at Rey almost apologetically. As for Beaumont himself, his patience was just about expired.

"If no one has anything productive to add, I suggest you listen."

Zorii scowled petulantly, but kept silent, and the archivist continued to read:

" _To the Jedi Knight, Rey Palpatine..._ " (Beaumont pointedly ignored how everyone present still stiffened at this) " _... I leave all of my jewelry, wardrobe and womanly affects, including my personal vanity. My young Padawan apprentice, you have always felt like a daughter to me. As I have always wanted one, I feel great honor to bestow upon you these most precious of my personal belongings. Please accept them in memory of me. As a final token of my goodwill, I leave you with my lightsaber._ "

At this, Poe's eyes gleamed with wonder. "Leia had a _lightsaber_?"

In answer, Rey remembered and unclipped the hilt from her belt and held it aloft. The pilot's grin turned almost boyish. "Wicked! Where did you get it?"

Rey opened her mouth to answer, stomach tightening like a vice, but Maz interrupted her. "A good question - for another time." The young Jedi mouthed to her, 'Thank you.'

"The rest of Leia's things are just in here." Poe opened a side door which led into an adjacent room. Rising from her chair, Rey drifted towards the door as Poe and then Finn entered Leia's personal quarters. The chambers were mostly utilitarian, like any of the other barracks here on base, so that the one thing that stood out was the vanity.

To be sure, it was a small vanity, yet still ostentatious in design; without a doubt it was the flashiest piece of furniture that Leia Organa had ever owned. Circling the piece, Poe ran a hand over the tabletop.

"Alderaanian mahogany... they don't make furniture like this anymore..."

Rey's breath hitched, her eyes shimmering with fresh tears. Never, in all her years on Jakku, had she ever owned something like this. "It's beautiful..."

Poe nodded. "And hopefully easy to carry. We can transfer it back to your room on the _Falcon_." Rey had taken over the captain's quarters of Han Solo ever since the Battle of Crait. Poe now attempted to hoist the vanity up in a deadlift. Muscles straining, his face quickly turned red.

"Here, Finn, help me!"

Finn bustled over and placed himself on Poe's other side, both men bracing themselves to bear the weight.

"Three, two, one..." Poe counted down, as they both lifted at the same time. The vanity still wouldn't move.

"Maker above, what _is_ in here?" Poe pulled at the top drawer.

"Take everything off the top and pull out all the drawers!" Jannah called out the suggestion from the next room.

"Or I could just levitate it with the Force," Rey shrugged. She couldn't help but imagine that Ben could have probably carried his mother's vanity all by himself, and without the Force. He was so _terribly_ strong... Her cheeks grew warm at the thought. Catching eyes with Finn's bemused look, she quickly sealed off her inner musings like a steel trap, trying hard not to cringe. Finn would need training - sooner rather than later.

Poe leaned against the vanity, heaving out a sigh. Lifting his head, he fixed Rey with a smile. "Congratulations, Rey - you're moving."

Rey's eyes went huge. "Here? Oh no, Poe, I couldn't possibly... I don't want any special treatment..."

"Nonsense. We're just about to embark on a reshuffling of lodgings anyway - a shipment of donated durasteel trailers just came in. Most everyone will get an upgrade from living in the caves. And besides - I ain't lifting this thing and trying to wrestle it out of here, much less into the _Falcon_."

Face flushing, Rey nodded. Poe grinned. "Excellent. That takes care of that." He exited Leia's quarters, shuffling everyone back into the office, and turned to Beaumont. "Keep going."

Beaumont cleared his throat. " _To my dearest and only son, Benjamin Chewbacca Organa Solo, I leave the keys and deed to the Varykino estate of our ancestors, the Naberrie family, Theed City, Naboo. At the request of his father, Han Solo and his uncle, Landonis Balthazar Calrissian, I speak with authority on their behalf to bequeath to my son ownership of the Corellian YT-1300 freighter known as the Millennium Falcon. Sweet Ben, I also leave you with the apologies and regret of a foolish old woman who did not do more to help lead you away from the path you chose. I forgive you, my son, and I will love you always_."

Throughout this reading, Rey had a tender smile on her face. Back to kneeling besides Rey's chair, Finn hissed through his clenched underbite.

"Chewie's not gonna like that..."

"And if that isn't the biggest waste of a paragraph!" Poe scoffed. "Why didn't you just skip it?"

Glancing to him, Beaumont frowned. "Why _would_ I skip it?"

"Mister Kin is quite right, sir," Threepio piped up. "Protocol dictates..."

"Oh, DASH protocol!" Poe fumed, stomping over to Beaumont's side and peering at the parchment over his colleague's shoulder. "You can't bequeath something to someone who is already dead... especially _that_ monster!" At this, he glanced up at Rey. "He is dead, right?"

All eyes snapped to Rey. Shifting in her seat, Rey made a show of blinking, shaking her head, to buy herself time. "General, I'm sorry, can you repeat the question?"

Frowning hard, eyes narrowed into slits, Poe repeated himself. "Is Ben Solo, also known as Kylo Ren, dead?"

Rey gulped. To protect Ben, she would have to lie to her friends. If she didn't, Ben would surely think she had betrayed him, and her heart couldn't bear that. But before she could make a sound, Threepio inserted himself back into the conversation.

"Dash protocol, sir? How _dare_ you suggest such a thing!" The protocol droid sounded truly affronted. "It is against every instinct... I was _made_ for protocol, sir!"

"Will you shut up or shut down, Threepio, I'm trying to hear Rey answer a question...!"

Maz suddenly bellowed her voice over the din of Threepio and Poe squabbling. "I say worry about it later! As for what's to be done with the _Falcon_ , leave it with my boyfriend... for now."

Finn made a disgusted face at hearing Maz refer to Chewbacca as her 'boyfriend', while Rey sent the old pirate a grateful smile. Maz's only response was to stare probingly at Rey through her goggles, and the Jedi felt her heart momentarily still. Maz knew. She knew Ben was alive. More than likely, she probably also knew, or at least suspected, what they were to each other. She desperately cordoned off these thoughts as Beaumont turned back to the will.

" _To the command of the paramilitary organization known as the Resistance, I leave full authority and power to my trusted Lieutenant General, Poe Dameron of Yavin IV. I also grant him the permission to make any hierarchical changes to the chain of command that he so wishes_."

Poe shook his head, smirking up at his Co-General. "It's like she _knew_... never missed a trick, that woman."

Clearing his throat, Beaumont concluded: " _This, my last Will and Testament, signed Leia Amidala Skywalker Organa Solo, General of the Resistance, Crown Princess of the Royal House of Organa, Alderaan_." Letting the parchment flutter to the desktop, he sighed heavily. "Well... that's that."

The office had grown eerily silent, everyone bowing their heads and reluctant to look at anyone else as a fresh round of grief overtook the hearts of all assembled. Even those who had never personally known Leia, like Jannah and Zorii, were moved.

"Let's pray together," Beaumont murmured, breaking the stillness. Glancing at one another, the group joined hands and kept their heads bowed, as Beaumont sent up a prayer in the tradition of the Church of the Force.

* * *

All that Rey owned could be neatly fit into two cardboard boxes, which she carried off the _Falcon_ and down to Leia's room... which had now become her room. Making a sweep of the space with her eyes, the young Jedi was overwhelmed that these quarters and everything in it... were all hers.

Living in her overturned AT-AT salvaged from the downed Imperial Star Destroyer _The Interrogator_ , Rey had only owned a few meager possessions, and certainly nothing of the finer things in life...

Like this wardrobe full of clothes only suitable for the princess that Leia was. Thumbing through the hangars of dresses made of the finest silk, Rey's fingers stilled on a frilly white one that seemed to resemble a nightdress. She only had a passing knowledge of such sleepwear, having only seen one or two worn by the madames who ran the pleasure tents in Niima Outpost; those had been the kind of people who ruled on top of the pecking order on Jakku. Madames, arms dealers, parts dealers like Unkar Plutt - they had been the closest thing to an 'elite' the backwater desert planet had. Everyone else - the scavengers, the prostitutes and the working class - had been dirt poor.

Taking a seat at the cherry-wood vanity, Rey delicately picked up a hairbrush encrusted with an emerald jewel. Studying herself in the mirror, she unpinned her hair from its buns and slowly drew the hairbrush through her long chestnut strands, stroking it with care. Her hair felt grimy; she resolved to wash it in the fresher come morning, when she wasn't feeling as tired. As she set about making long, smooth strokes, she began daydreaming of Ben. She wondered if he had reached Naboo safely, what his family's estate looked like. What he was thinking and feeling at this moment in self-imposed exile...

Pining, Rey began humming a soft little tune as she brushed her hair. Glancing into the mirror, she stilled when she saw Ben's image reflected in the panes. Turning back to glance at him, she beamed happily as he sauntered up behind her, dipping a kiss into her neck that made her shiver.

"Hey there, beautiful girl," he murmured. "How was your day?"

Biting her lip to hide a smile, Rey glanced down into her lap. "It was good," she reported. A beat and then, she admitted quietly, "We read over your mother's will today."

A howl of pain flashed across the Bond, and Ben's face collapsed slightly in mourning. The grief stabbed as sharp as a vibroblade. "I see." Large hands coming to rest on her shoulders, he felt the silky fabric underneath his fingers, and leaned back a little to take her all in.

"You're wearing my mother's nightgown," he observed softly.

Rey blushed. "She... left it to me. Along with her vanity and all her jewelry." A tear slipped from her eye. "I... I don't feel worthy of it."

"Of course you are worthy of it, darling - more than worthy," Ben smiled kindly. Though there was much pain swirling within him regarding his mother, he sent up a prayer of thanks at her generosity. No longer would Rey have to live in squalor with very little, if anything, to her own name.

He swallowed hard. "Did my mother... leave anything for me?"

"Yes," Rey whispered. "The Falcon, and that estate of your family's." She craned her neck back to gaze at him. "She also expressed how sorry she is, how much she loves you."

Ben was shaking now, trying to put the restless kinetic energy into tenderly massaging Rey's shoulders, a gesture which she leaned into with a happy sigh. Finally getting a hold of himself, Ben took a deep, shuddering breath, turning his attention to Rey's hair. Picking up a strand between his fingers, he caressed it.

"May I?"

Rey gaped at him a little, pulse halting. "Please." Her voice was a raspy croak.

Slowly, with the greatest of care, Ben began to braid Rey's chestnut tresses into an elegant design running all the way down her back. Rey watched his talented hands, his deft fingers, with unconcealed fascination. His touch was so impossibly soft that she nearly _moaned_ with happiness and comfort. When at last he finished, Rey turned her head to study his work in the mirror, lifting her shining eyes to his.

"Thank you," she whispered with a smile, leaning in to gently kiss him. "Where did you learn to...?"

"My mother taught me, of course. When..." Ben paused, breathing to regain his composure. "When I was young, I would watch my father braid Mother's hair just like this. It's an Alderannian design. Traditional, rich with meaning. It... it's the hairstyle of lovers. A husband who braided this for his wife performed the most intimate gesture of love and devotion one could make in Alderannian culture."

Rey's breath hitched, touched. "I love it," she whispered, beaming. "And I love you."

Ben grinned down at her smolderingly. Holding out his hands to her, he helped her from the chair and guided her over to the four-poster. "Come to bed," he crooned.

Slowly, the lovers climbed into bed together. Instantly, Rey snuggled up next to Ben under the covers, resting her head on his chest. Enveloping herself in his warmth. Stealing one arm around her, Ben cuddled her close, chin atop her head.

For several moments, all was quiet, as the couple lay together and just enjoyed each other's companionable silence. At last, Ben's voice softly pierced the night:

"Rey?"

"Hmmmm?" she purred, a content smile on her face.

"Are you awake?"

"Well, if I'm dreaming, I don't ever want to wake up," she nuzzled closer to him.

"Seconded." He chuckled, though it felt strained. Sensing his hesitation, Rey pressed a kiss to his chest.

"What's wrong, love?"

"... Did... did your friends... ask about me... during the reading of the will?"

Rey nodded slowly. "Poe thought it a waste of a paragraph for Leia to leave things to a dead man. Then he asked me to confirm that you _were_ dead."

Though he lay still, Rey could feel Ben's heartbeat race under her ear, quivering like a live wire. "What did you tell them?"

"Nothing. I was all ready to lie and say that you were dead, but Threepio interrupted. He and Poe got into a bit of an argument after that."

"Let me guess: Dameron said something that offended that pompous windbag of bolts."

Rey giggled. "Yes!"

Ben chuckled, more heartily this time. "Well... I never, ever thought I'd say this, but... thank you, Threepio."

Rey laughed musically at this, burying her face into Ben's chest as she shook with mirth.

When their merriment finally died down, Ben asked quietly, stroking Rey's arm. "Do you think you can keep my fate and whereabouts to yourself for now?" A thick cloud of fear and guilt swirled over the Bond, and Rey nodded.

"Of course. But I don't know for how long. I don't think this is the last I've heard of it. Poe is going to want to know that he has a confirmed kill."

"Let's hope old Threepio bought us some time then, at least." Ben rested his head against hers.

"Ben?" Rey whispered. His heart quivered at the sound of his name on her lips. He didn't think he would ever tire of it.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Will you stay through the night with me?"

"Always. As long as the Bond will allow. I'll be here with you when you fall asleep."

Exhaling in contentment, Rey burrowed herself in the heat of his body. "Good," she cooed, yawning. "I love you..."

"I love you too, my little desert flower..."


	3. Master and Apprentice

**Chapter 3: Master and Apprentice**

_She was in a field of meadow grass, struggling against the grip of strong hands. Something that felt like the muzzle of a blaster was pressed up against her back, and when she turned her head to the left, she beheld the determined and cold face of Poe, who refused to look at her. Glancing back to the field before her, Rey watched in horror, as Finn swung Kylo Ren's red lightsaber, decapitating her beloved Ben. His head fell one way, his body the other._

_"NOOOOOOO!"..._

Rey sat up sharply in bed, the bedclothes yanked up to the frilly collar of her nightdress. For a moment, she sat there in a cold sweat, panting, big, brown eyes darting about. Casting her gaze to the left side of the bed, she found it empty, but comfortingly rumpled - a clue that Ben had indeed been present when she had fallen asleep, but that the Bond must have indeed switched off sometime during the night.

But what if...

Frantically, she reached out through the Bond, and nearly cried with relief when she felt Ben's impossibly warm Force signature reach back. He was alive, though still asleep - Ajan Kloss's day-night cycles must be ahead of Naboo's by a few standard hours.

Climbing out of bed, Rey made for the adjoining fresher, and quickly washed all the sweat from her nightmare, and all the grime and dirt from yesterday's fighting, out of her body and hair. Her only regret was having to undo the design that Ben had done her hair in. Thumbing through Leia's closet, she found an ensemble that looked casual, and held it up to her bony frame: it would be much too small for her. Shrugging, she returned it to the rack and changed back into her white Jedi robes, taking a seat by the windowsill.

Gazing out at the morning sunlight, and listening to the sounds of wildlife, the birds chirping, she thought back to the previous evening, when Ben had braided her hair. Kissed her neck - a tiny groan escaped her at the memory and she closed her eyes. Ben had said that the design was traditionally Alderaanian - a sign of an intimate gesture between lovers. Her cheeks bloomed pink. Was Ben Solo really her lover? A lovesick smile fought its way onto her face. Certainly, they had kissed... and Rey found that she never wanted to stop.

A sudden knock at the door shook her from her reverie. "C-Coming!" she called out, rushing to answer it. Opening it, she frowned upon at first seeing no one there, at least until she looked down.

Maz Kanata waved at her. "Good morning, child. I was hoping you and I could go for a little stroll this morning."

In the Force, Rey could tell instantly what Maz was really asking, and found herself jumping at the chance. Only Ben's request to keep his whereabouts to herself gave her pause. If she wanted to be technical about it, she had promised him. Yet at the same time, she felt like she wanted to tell somebody, and out of everyone on base, she trusted Maz more than anyone else to keep her secret, at least until she and Ben had agreed when the time was right.

"Of course."

The girl and the little orange alien traversed through Leia's office, and stepped out into the early morning air. A cacophony of ship repairs could be heard around them as they passed by the hangar bay and headed for the privacy of the jungle trees. Almost all the ships in the Resistance and Citizen's Fleet had taken heavy fire, and Rey made a note to put herself to work and help the others as soon as she could.

It was Maz who finally broke the silence once they had stepped a ways into the foliage.

"So... he is alive, then?"

Rey nodded solemnly. "Yes, Master."

Maz just chuckled. "Oh, please, dear, call me Maz - I hear 'Master,' I start looking around for Leia. Though I appreciate your instinctive respect for your elders."

Rey smirked. "OK, Maz."

The alien turned to face her in a clearing of trees, adjusting her goggles. "And where is he right now?"

Here, Rey hesitated, biting her lip. Though she trusted Maz with the secret far more than she would with anyone else on base at the moment... "Can you be satisfied when I say that he is somewhere safe?"

Maz drew back, smiling knowingly. "Of course, child." Rey smiled weakly, heat blooming along her cheeks. Maz's grin broadened. "Your Bond is strong. I can sense it."

Though she shouldn't have been so surprised, Rey gaped anyway. "You knew?"

"As did Leia. We both agreed that it would either save or doom you both. His love saved you from death at the hands of your grandfather. We should all be so fortunate that the Emperor cannot say the same. He is dead, yes?"

Rey nodded heavily. "For good this time."

Maz tutted. "Hard to fathom how he was alive again."

Rey winced. "I wouldn't call it alive, exactly. He was hooked up to lots of machines and appeared all... decrepit." She shuddered at the image. "He offered me the throne of the Sith, on which to rule as Empress."

"An attractive title," Maz mused.

" _Never_ ," Rey spat, her gut roiling.

"No... No, perhaps not."

The pair were interrupted in that moment by a crashing through the underbrush, followed by some raised voices. Before long, Zorii Bliss appeared, without her mask and fuming.

"Honey, I didn't... Zorii, come back!" Poe now appeared after her, stopping short when he caught sight of the other two women. "Oh. Hey, you two. Out for a stroll?"

Rey shrugged and nodded. Catching Zorii's eye, the bounty hunter scoffed and stomped off. Rey thought she heard something like, "Little Miss Empress... gonna turn on us all..."

Poe cringed apologetically, appearing almost embarrassed. "Well, maybe you'll have a more enjoyable walk than I did... Zorii, wait up!"

Left alone again, Rey turned to Maz. "Maz... you said on Takodana that someone could still come back for me..." Of its own accord, a giddy smile replaced the frown she had sported upon hearing Zorii's mutterings. "You were right. Ben came back for me!"

Maz was beaming. "It's wonderful to be in love, isn't it?"

Rey hummed to herself. "Yes..." She giggled, bubbling. "Yes!"

Just then, Finn arrived, all smiles and buoyant. "Good morning, ladies! Have you seen Poe?"

"You just missed him," Rey sighed, pointing off in the direction that the pilot and Zorii had gone.

"Spat with Zorii?" Finn guessed. At her nod, he winced. "On second thought, I'll track him down later. I'd much prefer to see you, actually."

Remembering his Force sensitivity, Rey jumped at the chance. "Me too. In fact, how would you like your first lesson in the Force?"

"Would I?!" Finn practically danced.

Maz chuckled. "I'll leave you young Jedi to it." And giving Rey a hug, she moseyed on down the path.

Finn and Rey headed further into the jungle, walking away from camp down one of the well worn trails. As she pushed another branch out of the path, Rey asked Finn, "What do you know about the Force?"

"From what I have heard you say, it is this unifying connection. I know that Jedi can use it to move things, heal creatures, and help them in combat. I've seen you make some incredible jumps."

Rey smiled. "Yes. There are lots of ways we can use the Force. Many different Force users can tap into it to some degree - not just Jedi. The Sith can use it as well." She thought about everything she had read in the ancient texts. "There have been many names for the Force over the millennia. There have been races and religions who have observed or worshipped it without being able to touch it in any way. The Force connects every living thing, and can be utilized in any number of ways. For good and for evil. There are many techniques that Jedi and Sith share, but it is how they are applied that sets them apart. Some are very subtle and others are far more obvious. You saw the - " _damn damn damn, c'mon say it, you coward_ "the lightning that I manifested on Pasaana." She blew out a harsh breath and shook her head. "Palpatine did the same thing on Exegol."

"Right, I remember you told us that. And I saw you do that, but it never occurred to me it could be produced on such a large scale that it could reach into space from planetside." Finn sounded slightly scared, even now.

"Something of that scope required a substantial amount of energy, and came at great cost." Rey flashed back to that horrible moment in the throne room, frozen and terrified, feeling her life being siphoned from her body, feeling Ben's life fading as well. _Slimy bastard._ She took a deep breath and shook off the memory.

"Force lightning is a manifestation of the dark side. I was acting out of anger and sheer frustration. It was wrong and I regret it. And even though we didn't lose Chewie, it still cost the troopers on that transport their lives."

"Traditional Jedi teachings say that mastery of the Force comes through mastery of oneself. Anger, hatred, fear….the dark side can feed on all of these emotions. Amplify all of our most destructive impulses."

Rey thought about the things that she had learned from Leia, and the change she had seen come over Ben. "The dark side of the Force is easier, but will eat you alive. It doesn't love, it possesses. It offers a fast route to power, but you will lose yourself very quickly. But the light… the light side of the Force can be used for defense of others, healing, seeking wisdom, aiding you in decision making, help you in battle, allow you to move things…"

"From everything I have learned, the Force works in two way - the Cosmic Force and the Living Force. The Cosmic Force is the greater manifestation…. Um, kind of like the will of the universe, you could say. The Living Force is generated by you and me, and that tree, and the birds in the sky, and everything that draws breath. We each have a life force. A _finite_ life force. When I healed the big snake creature on Pasaana, I shared some of my life force with it. It came at a cost. It isn't something that can be done easily." Finally explaining all this to another person was oddly clarifying."

"The Cosmic Force feeds the Living Force and the Living Force feeds the Cosmic Force." _A symbiotic relationship. A dyad._

"But today we are going to focus on just feeling it. On purpose. Not by accident, not a weird feeling in the back of your subconscious, not that little nudge that says do this instead of that." She took a breath and tried to erase all thoughts of Exegol and Palpatine from her mind.

Rey pushed aside a branch and breathed deep, stepping into her favorite meditation spot. "This is it. Let's get settled." She'd moved a couple of fallen trees, and rearranged a few rocks, but the little clearing was largely untouched. A small, bright stream burbled along one edge of the space. She tossed her light pack and staff down.

Finn looked around for a moment. "This is pretty."

Rey smiled. "I hope you find it as restful as I do." She stretched her arms high over her head and then all the way down, pressing her palms flat against the ground.

"Okay - sit down in a comfortable position and try to relax. Cross legged works best for me." They both settled on the ground, facing one another. "Now, close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Everything is connected, Finn. Everything that draws breath. Everything that lives. Imagine your senses reaching out. Block out your sight, and focus instead on what you hear, what you smell, what you _feel_."

Finn went further and further inwards, feeling the breeze against his cheek, the breath flowing in and out his lungs. The cool earth beneath him. He could hear the brook bubbling nearby. The birds chirping overhead. The sounds of nature grew louder and louder. _Breathe in and out. In and out._ Suddenly, the world seemed to expand.

There was a small animal in the brush not twenty meters behind them, approaching the stream. He could feel its heartbeat, sense it sniffing the air to see if it was safe. There were tiny amphibians hugging the edges of the shore, and hopping into the water. Above his head was a nest with three eggs, with tiny baby birds coiled inside, sitting warm and protected beneath their mother, almost ready to hatch.

Rey was like a shiny bright thing before him, almost sparkling. The trees stretched far overhead, but were still rooted so deep into the ground. Worms crawled through the dirt below his feet. There was life _everywhere_. It pulsed and throbbed. He gasped in surprise, and his concentration faltered for the briefest moment.

Finn felt Rey's delight, watching his reaction. "Keep breathing. Stay focused," she said softly. "Just get used to it."

He lost track of time completely, exploring their surroundings through the Force. Finally, Rey spoke to him, her voice sounding oddly far away. "Finn. _Finn_. It's time to come back." He became aware of a touch upon his shoulder, pulling him back. He came out of the meditation, and it felt like breaking the surface of a pool of water.

Rey had a wide grin on her face, staring at him.

"That was amazing!"

"You did really well. But we need to start heading back. I don't want to miss dinner."

"What? We haven't been here that long."

Amusement danced in Rey's eyes. "Check your chronometer."

He stared in disbelief - almost three hours had passed since they left camp. "How is that possible?"

"You've been meditating, and I didn't want to disturb you. How do you feel?"

"I feel fantastic." He stretched his legs forward. "If a little stiff. Oof."

"I'd like to start with a run tomorrow morning. Is that okay? I know you have responsibilities."

"That works great, thank you." He massaged his knees with a grimace. "I didn't really miss PT."

She chuckled. "Sorry. Part of the package."

He nodded and stood up.

* * *

It was high noon by the time the best friends made it back to camp. Approaching the hangar bay, Finn and Rey spotted Poe, with no Zorii in sight.

"There you two are!" the pilot huffed. "You guys know of a place where we can rustle up some grub? I had some meetings run late, and the mess hall's closed!"

"Aw, damn, did we miss the lunch rush?" Finn whined.

Rey giggled. "You were the one stuck in meditation for three standard hours."

Finn smirked guiltily. "Tell you what: round up as many hungry comrades as you can, and meet me back at the _Falcon_. I think I might be able to help..."

Finn probably got more than he bargained for, as a standard half hour later found him cooking over the Falcon's single-flame stove for Rey, Poe, Zorii, Chewbacca, Beaumont, Connix, Jannah, Rose and C3PO. Still, the ex-Stormtrooper worked gamely, finally passing round bowls of stew with the skill of a sabacc dealer.

"OK, everyone, eat up! Hopefully, this'll keep!" He sat down with his friends in the dejarik booth and watched trepidatiously as everyone took initial sips. "I apologize in advance if it's too hot. Maybe I was too eager on the spices..."

"What are you talking about? This is _amazing_!" Jannah gushed.

"As someone who actually ran spice, you sure know how to mix them in quite well!" Poe laughed, his reaction upon taking his first spoonful close to gobsmacked.

A clamor of voices went up:

"Finny, you got any seconds?"

"What's your recipe?"

 _I wish my mouth was bigger!_ Chewbacca howled in Shrriywook.

"Threepio, you seriously gotta taste this!" Beaumont warbled through a bite.

Rey studied the protocol droid curiously as he lifted his bowl from the tabletop. It occurred to her that she had never actually seen him eat, or how he would. What _did_ droids consume for nutrients? As she watched, Threepio released a valve in his side, tipped the bowl over, and poured the stew in the way one might fill the hyperfuel tank of a fighter. There was a pause as he seemed to "digest" the meal, until his golden eyes lit up.

"Mmm! Delightfully tangy, yet robust. Oh, Master Finn, I didn't know you could cook!"

Turning red, Finn sheepishly rubbed at the back of his neck. "Yeah, well... when we were on tours of duty in open space, often for weeks at a time, there were moments where our food rations would run out. In shortages like that, we were expected to know how to cook our own meals out of anything we could find."

"When you were a Stormtrooper?" Rey asked gently, fascinated. Finn rarely talked about his time in the First Order.

"Yeah. There was a wood-burning stove in our quarters, about yay big." He held out his hands; the space between them was about a quarter of the width of the _Falcon_ 's stove. "Add a bed, chair and writing desk, and that was it... in a space about the size of this booth. It... was a hard life, but I learned a lot."

"Clearly!" Jannah winked, trying to lighten the oppressive silence that now descended among the friends. "My compliments to the chef!"

"Well, if we're in the mood of celebrating others' good fortunes," Connix voiced. "Beaumont and I have some news..." Taking the archivist's hands in hers, she announced, "We're getting married!"

The table devolved into happy chatter, Poe reaching across the table to pump Beaumont's hand while Jannah and Zorii peppered Connix with questions about the flowers, her dress. Chewie roared something about the couple being suited to each other. Folding into herself a little, Rey bit her lip and kept quiet. She couldn't help but wonder: would anyone ever comment on how she and Ben suited each other as a couple? Looked natural together? Was there a possibility that her friends could come to accept her relationship with him, if she ever managed to tell them?

Across the booth, the Jedi happened to catch Rose's eye. The technician's kind, cherubic face frowned in concern, mouthing, _'You OK?'_ Rey nodded, smiling weakly.

Not long after, as the afternoon shadows began to lengthen, the group of allies left the Falcon's hull, in twos and threes. Rey stayed behind to wash dishes, soon feeling a warm presence sidle up beside her.

"Need a hand?"

Rey nodded at Rose's smile and the two girls quickly formed an assembly line routine - Rey washing, Rose drying.

"So:" Rose jumped right in after a few moments of silence. "You got pretty quiet at Beaumont and Kaydel's big news..."

"I'm not jealous," Rey blurted out.

Rose cocked a ruffled eyebrow. "No one's saying you were..."

Rey cringed. "I might be a little... envious," she admitted quietly, staring down at her hands making the same circular scrubbing motion almost autonomously. "Of Beau and Kaydel's happiness..."

"Indeed. May I ask why?"

Rey stilled for a moment, contemplating the sudsy soup bowl in her hands. Setting it down carefully on the counter, she turned deliberately to Rose.

"Rosie, can you keep a secret?"

"Yes." Rose answered without hesitation.

Rey took a deep breath. "I'm in love with someone... but I don't know if Poe and Finny and the others would be as accepting of our happiness... accepting of _us_... if they knew... who I was seeing..." She spoke haltingly, cryptically.

Rose studied the young woman in silence for a moment. "Well..." she finally spoke slowly. "The important thing is: are you happy?"

Rey beamed giddily. "Yes."

"Do you love this man?"

"With all my heart," Rey sighed.

"Do you feel he is worth it?"

Rey nodded firmly, eyes solmen and sure. "I do."

Rose grinned. "Then that's all that should matter. And hopefully, that will carry you and your little honey through, no matter what the others have to say about it." She lay a reassuring hand on Rey's arm. "I'm glad you told me, Rey."

Rey smiled hopefully, renewed. "Me too, Rosie. Thanks."


	4. This Time, The Truth

**Chapter 4: This Time, The Truth**

Rey woke up the next morning feeling refreshed, if also a little disappointed. She hadn't seen Ben since the day before yesterday; he hadn't come to her last night as she was going to bed, though she had gotten in late from the supper on the _Falcon_.

So, she was heartened, sitting up in bed to find Ben seated at the chair before her vanity, watching her with a sentimental smile.

Cheeks turning pink, Rey mumbled happily, "How long have you been sitting there?"

Ben smiled warmly. She _adored_ the way he smiled. To her, it felt like the sunrise. "Not long. A standard half-hour..." he absently checked his wrist chronometer. "Maybe."

Beaming, Rey rose languidly from the bed and crossed into his arms. Resting her head on his shoulder, feeling Ben's arms encircle her, rub her lower back, she crooned, "Where have you been? You didn't come by at all yesterday."

"Had a lot of thinking to do..." Ben murmured. "Sometimes, I would feel you through the Bond; I could tell you were happy, and... with your friends." He might have plenty of things to say regarding Rey's choice of friends - especially where the arrogant pilot and the traitor were concerned - but if she was happy to have them in her life, Ben would tolerate their presence, for Rey's sake.

Rey nuzzled against him. "You don't approve of them," she stated.

Ben hissed, regretful that the Bond left their thoughts so open and exposed so easily. "Not all of them," he conceded. "But if they make you happy, then I can't really say a damn word about it."

She giggled, leaning back out of the embrace and rubbing his arms lightly, eyes shining. "Thank you."

He glanced away, muttering, "Nothing to thank me for."

Laughing, Rey took his chin in her hands and dragged him down for a good morning kiss. Ben quickly lost himself in kissing her back.

Neither of them heard the courtesy knock, much less the door creaking open.

"Rey, sorry to barge in, but Lando sent me to fetch you and... What in the bloody seven hells of Mustafar is this?!" Finn's voice quickly skipped several decibels to reach a shout in about the time it took to jump to lightspeed.

Ben and Rey sprang apart, their arms still around each other. Rey looked positively stricken, Ben appeared more bemused. "He can see me?"

Rey gulped. "He's Force sensitive." Her voice was between a whisper and a squeak.

Finn looked positively murderous. "Dead, huh?"

Rey went white. "Finny, it's not what you think..."

"Oh, but it's exactly what I think! Don't tell me how to use my eyes! You're letting a monster kiss you... and touch you..." His cheeks bulged and it looked like he was in serious danger of hurling. "Is there a fresher in here?"

"Down the hall," Ben jerked his thumb to the fresher door, tone still maddeningly mild.

Finn's eyes popped. "So, he knows the goddamn layout, then? You've been letting him spy on us?!"

"No, no, Finn, that's not..."

"Or maybe he's controlling you so you just give him any intel!"

Ben now looked the most shaken he had been during the entire episode. "I should go, Rey. I'll see you later."

"Oh, no you won't!" Finn started for him... then blinked when Ben vanished into thin air.

"Wait!" Rey cried to her lover, but too late - he was gone. Rounding on Finn, her mouth drew into a thin line. It felt like steam was coming out of her ears. "You have no right to tell me what I can and cannot do! How dare you!"

Clearly, the Force training was working, for Rey could feel anger and betrayal rolling off of Finn in waves. "And he just disappears? How convenient. Those one-night stands been pretty quick, have they?"

Rey's jaw went slack. "Don't be vulgar!" she chided in a hiss. "There's been nothing like that!"

"He gets you to take off all your clothes and then whisper state secrets between the sheets? I mean, I wouldn't use that as pillow talk, but hey, whatever floats your freighter..."

"You know nothing about him! Or us!" Rey's voice had now also risen to a yell.

"I know he's a murderer!"

"Kylo Ren was the murderer. The man you just walked in on, the man I was kissing, is Ben Solo!"

"Is that what he told you with that little Jedi mind trick, between all the kisses? That he has changed?" Finn sneered.

Rey felt her fists ball. "He _has_ changed! He came back to the Light to save my life!"

"Oh, Rey, don't be naive! You can't believe every word that comes out of a man just because he's a pretty face!"

Rey was bewildered. She tried to think back to the last time she and Finn had fought... and was horrified to realize that she couldn't remember, because they never had. Oh, sure, they occassionally disagreed on somesuch matters of Resistance policy (and even then, she tended to butt heads with Poe more on those issues), but this...

"Sorry if you think I'm a silly, little girl! But I'm 20 years old! I'm not the child you met on Jakku anymore!"

"Oh, I think you're worse than that, Rey," Finn chuckled with short, derisive laughter. "I think you're a traitor!"

"And who was the traitor first?!"

Finn physically reeled back as if punched, eyes as big as saucers. Rey's orbs also bulged as she realized what had just left her lips. And how desperately she wished to take it back. Shuddering, Finn got out in a tight whisper. "I became a traitor in part for you. Don't forget that..."

The rage had still not entirely ebbed from Rey, which somehow overtook her long enough to blurt out, "I didn't ask you to! I don't need you!"

Finn curled inward as if suffering a physical blow. Glaring at her, he rumbled, "But you need him more. Do you know where he is?"

Rey blinked, stammering. "Of... of course not..."

"Do you KNOW where he is?!" Finn shouted, with greater emphasis.

Tears stinging as they gathered in her irises, Rey shook as she wept. "Why? So you and Poe can go gallivanting off and kill him? I'd rather die than tell you!"

Finn now looked absolutely heartbroken. "Zorii was right. You are going to turn on us all... Little Empress."

Rey staggered back as though Finn had just slapped her. Finn stormed out of her room, leaving his friend to fall to the floor and weep.

* * *

Rey was still weeping out in the clearings of the jungle, seated on a log with Ben stroking her hair.

"He still treats me like a baby! We've never fought like that... never..." she sobbed.

"I know..." Ben crooned, unsure what else he could possibly say. He had felt the anger and distress through their Bond, and when Rey had appeared to him in tears some minutes later, she had told him everything. He had many things he would love to say on the matter (mostly to that traitor, FN-2187). Ben honestly didn't know what Rey saw in the man, but he clearly meant a lot to her. Then again, this Finn might just say the same about him.

"Maybe it would be better for you to tell him and Dameron where I am..."

Rey lifted her head from his shirtfront, terrified. "And let them come after you?!"

"Maybe they wouldn't kill me. Just arrest me."

"And then what?"

He shrugged, kissing her temple. "I don't know, love."

There was a sudden clearing of the throat and Rey glanced up to spy Poe, some yards away and shifting from foot to foot.

"Is... is _he_ there with you?"

Rey sighed resignedly. "How much do you know?"

"Enough. Finn told me all he could. Is _he_ there with you? Now?"

Rey frowned. "He is. And his name is Ben."

Poe let out an agitated breath through his nose. "And I'm the only one who can't see him. I feel so left out." His voice was sarcastic.

There was a tense pause before Poe looked at Rey again.

"Now will you please tell us where he physically is, Rey? It's important."

"Wh... what would you do if I did?"

Poe sighed. "We don't know... yet." The Force told her he spoke true.

Rey glanced back to Ben, torn. Invisible to Poe, Ben nodded.

"You have my permission, sweetheart. Let's leave it up to the Force?"

Rey nodded, blinking back tears, and chastely kissed Ben once, very gently. Taking a deep breath, she turned back to the pilot. "If I tell you," and her voice shook, "will you promise not to kill him or hurt him?"

"I promise." She was surprised by how readily he answered. "I think what I would want more than anything at the moment is to question him. About what he knows. Not just First Order movements but about us. Does he know where the base is? How strong we are? Can he control you through this connection...?"

"I don't know what Finn told you, but Ben hasn't been controlling me. The Bond doesn't work like that," Rey spat.

Poe raised his hands in supplication. "I... believe you," he said haltingly. "If... you'll come to my office, and Finn can hear what you have to say too..."

Warily, Rey followed him, glancing back just once to the spot where Ben had vanished.

* * *

Minutes later, the trio was gathered in Poe's office, Rey on one side of the desk, Poe and Finn on the other.

"All right, Rey, where is he? And this time, the truth." Poe's voice was low.

Rey stared at him for a long moment. "You've known since I got back that something was up, didn't you?"

The pilot just smirked. "Well, you didn't sound all that certain when I asked you if Kylo Ren was dead, the day we read Leia's will. And don't think I wasn't wondering why you nearly got yourself shot out of our airspace coming back in a TIE... while Luke Skywalker's old X-wing is still missing. Did he steal it then?"

Too tired to muster up much more anger, Rey elected to roll her eyes. "Ben didn't steal anything. I gave him the X-Wing."

"And he used it to fly... where?"

Rey bit her lip, eyeing her two friends, unsure. "It was a promise - lover to lover."

Poe sighed exapseratedly. "Rey, I know what it's like to be in love, OK? - I _have_ a lover!"

"Really? Cause you might wanna tell Zorii that. I don't think she got the memo," Finn cracked.

Poe pretended he hadn't heard him. "...But no matter how much you might love a person, it doesn't justify lying for him or helping him to evade justice. How would you feel - how would we all feel - if anything happened to more innocent people if Ben didn't tell us what he knows about the remains of the First Order fleet? Even if he doesn't go back to them, we can't rest on our laurels. We didn't kill the First Order at Exogol - only wounded them. And we have to finish them off before they can regroup. Ben could help us do that."

Rey bit her lip hard. Ben had given his permission for her to tell them his whereabouts, which meant he was finally ready to face whatever punishment awaited him. She just was paralyzed with fear over what that punishment would be.

She opened her mouth to speak, but Finn cut across her. "Before you say anything, Rey, I have to ask: why him? Out of all the people in the galaxy you could have fallen for, why did it have to be him?"

"You say that like I chose him," Rey accused.

"Didn't you? Aren't you, still, by keeping him from us?" Finn challenged.

"Do you think I really chose to fall in love with Ben, Finny? I couldn't help it! We're a Dyad in the Force - two that are one. If I did have a choice, I think I would have sooner chosen to fall for you or for Poe."

Poe actually chuckled at this. "While I'm flattered by the compliment, love, I don't think we would have worked."

Rey couldn't help but smirk. "With how we bicker? No, indeed." Finn said nothing, unable to look Rey in the eye. The Jedi glanced between the two men.

"I'm in love, and it scares me, because of these hard choices that it raises. Haven't either of you fallen in love with someone you shouldn't?"

"Maybe," Finn grunted, eyes still askance.

"Oh, definitely," Poe laughed. Studying Rey, his features softened in an unusual display of sympathy. "If you didn't mean to betray us by keeping secrets, as you seem to suggest, then why are you so afraid to trust us?"

"Because I don't know what you'll do to Ben once you have him, and he doesn't either!" Rey exploded. "You don't know what I feel from him through our Bond - he hates everything he's done, and he's confused, and scared, and guilty!"

"He should be - he's got a lot to answer for," Poe stated gravely.

Rey held the pilot's eyes, then Finn's, willing him to look at her. "If I tell you, will you promise not to hurt him?"

"For now... yes," Poe committed. "Now where is he, Rey?"

She took a deep breath, and looked him square in the eye. "He's at the Varykino Estate. Theed City, Naboo."

For a long moment, there was silence. Then Finn piped up.

"She's telling the truth. I can feel it in the Force."

Rey cocked a ruffled eyebrow. "You've learned much, my very young apprentice." Finn squirmed in his seat, still finding it difficult to meet her gaze.

Poe slapped the table. "So that's why Leia left that manor to him in her will! But why would he go to Naboo?"

"I'll do you one better: _how_ the hell did he get _on_ Naboo?" Finn gawped.

"That's easily explainable, actually," Poe sighed. "For starters, he was in one of our fighters. And the Naboo are a pacifist people. They only get involved in conflict when it's absolutely necessary, going back to the days of the Trade Federation. Thankfully, they've always joined up on our side."

"He... he mentioned to me that he had a disguise, fake ID docs to access the landing platform," Rey divulged. "And he has a key to the estate. I didn't give it to him. Leia must have a long time ago."

Poe nodded heavily. "Thank you, Rey. Um..." He paused. "... Can you tell... Ben that we wish to come to Naboo peacefully and hold a meeting with him? Preferably, I would like to get there and collect any intel he has within the next three standard days."

Rey nodded slowly. "I will ask him. And I think he will accept... on one condition."

"Name it," Poe blinked.

"I go with you. It will calm him, if I'm with him. And he hasn't seen me in person, without the Bond, since Exogol."

Poe studied her for a long moment. Rey just held his gaze. At last, the Co-General broke the staring contest with a nod.

"Done." And they shook on it. "Now," Poe huffed, rising from his seat, "Since that's settled, I have to ask: what the fuck is going between you two?" He pointed between Finn and Rey.

Neither Jedi nor ex-Stormtrooper could look at each other. "We had a fight," Finn mumbled, almost ashamedly.

"Words were exchanged." Rey's voice was icy, terse.

"Well, knock it the kriff off and bury the vibroblade, will you? Estrangement isn't worth it, just because he walked in on _you_ kissing your boyfriend! The two of you never fight, and it's scaring the crap out of me!" And Poe stomped out of his office, leaving Rey and Finn alone.

For a moment, Rey just looked at her best friend, still finding his reflection in the durasteel table quite fascinating. She almost took pity on him, until, huffing audibly, she too stalked from the room. She needed to brief Ben and prepare him for her arriving with the two Co-Generals of the Resistance.

Because even if Ben didn't agree to the meeting, Rey had a suspicion that Poe and Finn would be heading to Naboo anyway - with, or maybe even without, her.


	5. Reunited

**Chapter 5: Reunited**

Rey rounded the corner of her quarters to find Lando leaning against her door with his arms crossed, a steely look in his eyes.

"Where's Ben?"

Rey paused and then said only, "He's somewhere safe."

Lando raised his eyebrows and took a step forward, clearly annoyed. "Why don't you want to tell me?"

"I haven't told anyone."

"I'm not just _anyone_ \- he's my nephew and I want to know where he is. And do you really think I've lived this long if I don't know how to keep my mouth shut?" His expression was turning angry.

Rey sighed and opened her door. "Let's talk in here." They walked in and she shut it behind them.

"Well?"

"He's on Naboo."

"Why?" Rey could feel his frustration growing.

"Well, in a couple day cycles….. to meet with Poe and Finn."

She felt him relax. "So he's trading information for amnesty."

Rey squeezed her eyes shut. "I guess? But that's not exactly how it was proposed."

"Why did he finally leave the First Order after all this time? How do you _know_ all of this?"

"He'll need to be the one to answer the first question, but as for how I know? Ben and I are….connected through the Force."

Lando simply nodded. "So this connection allows you to know things about each other?"

"And communicate," she added.

"Okay."

Rey blinked twice and gaped at him. "That's it? Just okay?" No surprise? No _questions_?

"That is nowhere near the strangest thing I've ever heard. Especially where Jedi matters are concerned. This was always Leia's fondest hope. But she's gone - why is Ben trying to join the Resistance now?"

"Because we need to be in the same place. I - " Rey faltered for a moment. "I have to prove to them that he's changed. They don't believe me."

"He was the Supreme Leader of the First Order!" Lando exclaimed. "Of _course_ they're suspicious. I certainly would be, in their position."

"It's true. I promise, he's rejected the Dark Side."

"I'd like a little proof myself. He has a hell of a lot to answer for."

"And he knows that. He feels horrible about everything he did."

Lando nodded. "I'm coming to this meeting. I suspect Chewie will demand to go as well."

Rey paused, unsure of what to say. "I don't know if that's up to me."

"I don't give a damn what either one of the Generals has to say about it." Lando paused, and then said, "And you _need to be in the same place_? What exactly happened between you two?"

"Uh - um… once the Force started connecting us, things… developed?" Her voice was getting progressively higher, she noticed.

Lando shook his head and chuckled softly. "I shouldn't be surprised. Han always led with his heart. Why should his son be any different? So, when is this meeting?"

"Five days from now."

"Okay. And don't worry about Finn and Poe - I'll take care of it."

Rey swallowed nervously. "Thank you."

After shutting the door behind Lando, she leaned heavily against it. _How is Ben going to handle this on top of dealing with Poe and Finn?_ For the briefest moment she considered not telling him at all, but a surprise like this would probably be worse than the anticipation. _Damn damn damn._

* * *

Rey held Ben's hand as they stole a moment alone together in her room.

"Your uncles insisted on also being present for this meeting."

She could feel Ben's guilt as clearly as she might feel her own. "I'm not looking forward to it, but once Uncle Lando gets his mind on something, there's little anyone can do to stop him. I haven't seen him in years. And the last time I saw Chewie, I said some horrible things to him when he was imprisoned on board the _Steadfast_." He sighed. "Still, I think I'll much prefer their company to Dameron and the tr- _Finn_." His heart lightened, albeit just a little, when Rey smiled softly at this.

"And what about me?" she flirted, looping her arms about his waist, chin on his chest.

Ben chuckled and chastely pecked her on the lips. "Sweetheart, you'll be the only one I'll pay attention to for the whole damn thing!"

She giggled.

* * *

The quintet took the Falcon to Naboo via one of the hyperspace trade routes three day cycles later. Poe was piloting, with Rey at his side; Lando was in the jump seat.

"So what story are we gonna use for the Naboo leadership on why we're here?" Finn called from the dejarik booth, where he was playing a lazy game of holochess with Chewie. Rey could sense from him anxiousness, coupled with a need to relax his mind before the summit ahead; from what she had gathered, he and Poe had stayed up most of the night before to prepare for it. She couldn't help but wince. _They clearly have a lot of questions... I hope Ben is ready..._

"I informed the Queen that we were here scouting potential capitals for the new government," Poe called back.

"You think Naboo would be a good candidate then?" Rey asked. "I've never been here before."

"Can't imagine why not - on both counts," Poe chuckled and he actually gave her a wink. "Look there."

As the _Falcon_ dropped out of hyperspace, Rey felt her breath leave her lungs. Underneath a sky the clearest of blues was a city of classical architecture, topped with teal and turquoise roofs practically shimmering in the morning sunlight. Rey thought she had seen all beauty on Takodana, and then after meeting her Ben, but this...

"I never knew cities could be so... pretty."

"What? They don't have cities where you're from?" Lando chuckled behind her.

Rey shrugged. "The closest Jakku had was Cratertown. It was a day's trek from Niima Outpost, and kind of a dump."

"So, what, it was in an actual crater?" Poe cracked.

Rey chuckled. "Something like that."

They swooped into the landing platform, Poe momentarily leaving the ship to clear their ID docs with landing authorities. He finally poked his head back in.

"Well... come along, you lot! Let's get this over with!"

They headed out into the sun-dappled cobblestone streets. "Where did you say Varykino was again, Rey?"

"Ben said it was in something called the Lake Country, on the outskirts of the city." She sighed. "It's supposed to be really beautiful."

"Somehow, I get the feeling she's not talking about the Lake Country..." Finn muttered under his breath to Poe. He should have known better - with the Force, Rey had better hearing than a bat.

"Oh, shut up, Finny."

The Force also was very helpful in guiding the group in the direction of the Varykino Estate. Coming upon a brick staircase leading to what was clearly the back door, Rey knocked, heart hammering in her mouth.

Poe quickly whipped out his blaster. "Oh, for Force's sake, Poe, put that away!" The Jedi admonished.

The door slowly creaked open, and there he was - all broad and beautiful. The sun made his light skin nearly glow.

Eyes only for her, Ben broke into a beaming smile. "Rey!"

She weakly smiled back. "Ben..." Rey couldn't help but let her feet help her fly into his arms. Next second, she was squealing in surprise and delight as Ben literally picked her up and spun her around.

Despite the disconcerting sight of the Supreme Leader of the First Order holding his best friend like she was a schoolboy's crush, all Finn could manage was to roll his eyes as he strolled into the mansion. "I'm sorry, could you... whoa!" He barely dodged his face away from Rey's feet kicking him as Ben lifted her up and swirled her around again. "Could you just be careful?"

Ben now turned, his sunny expression collapsing into one of pure rage.

"You..." he growled, igniting Anakin's lightsaber. Behind the three, the whines of blasters could be heard powering up from Poe, Chewie and Lando. "You're the one left my Rey heartbroken and weeping for days!"

"Let's just... stay calm," Finn stammered, dancing away from the plasma blade and keeping a nearby couch placed between him and Ben, until Ben cornered the ex-trooper against one window. If her heart hadn't been in her mouth, Rey would have almost been satisfied at seeing her best friend cowering at lightsaber point.

Standing on the couch, Ben leered. "Have you any last words before I dispatch you?"

Finn took in the scene where he was most likely to die: the former Supreme Leader of the First Order, holding him at lightsaber-point... in the middle of a quaint Nabooian living room. "You have _got_ to be kriffing kidding me..."

Ben bemusedly frowned. "Strange words." Then he raised the blade.

"Kylo, stop!" Poe barked.

"NO!" Rey yelped, leaping between the two most important men in her life.

PING! By sheer luck, Poe's warning shot deflected off the lightsaber and ricocheted. Poe hit the deck as the bolt whizzed harmlessly over his head and blew out a window over the kitchen sink.

The room grew deathly silent as Ben turned towards Poe in slow degrees. "That window is at least six decades old and made from the finest Gungan glass, you arrogant twat..."

"Ben, honey... Ben..." Rey's sweet voice coaxed him into standing down. "Finn's OK, they're all OK, they're with me..."

Ben pointed the lightsaber tip between his lover and Finn. "So you two have made up then?"

"Yes," Rey lied quickly. If Ben could sense this lie in the Bond, he didn't show it.

"Ah." He promptly turned off the lightsaber, then actually handed it to Finn. Raising a surprised eyebrow, Finn warily took it.

"Gentlemen... and ladies," Ben gazed lovingly at Rey, causing her to smile goofily. "Shall we begin? The kitchen is this way..."

In the kitchen sat a fine wooden table - two chairs on one side, four on the other. Lando and Chewie took their places in the back, while Rey and Ben sat together in the row ahead of them. Poe and Finn sat opposite the couple.

Finn examined Ren carefully. There was no malice in the man, no cold blackness. Instead he sensed an incredible sadness, and the faintest bit of hope. Grief. Regret. Nervousness. And _fear_. That was a surprise. Was this some sort of act? Finn could also still feel the dark side swirling vaguely at the edges of him, but it was only as the smallest threads. He remembered facing off against the man in the snowy woods on Starkiller. In that memory, Ren was a howling wall of pure rage and darkness which filled him with dread even now. The man holding hands with Rey seemed to be a completely different person in almost every way he could perceive. How could that be true?

Poe looked up, frowning slightly at the handholding. "Are we ready to get started?"

Ren just nodded as he and Rey let go of one another and sat down on the same bench. BB-8 rolled into position across from him. A tiny indicator light came on as he started recording. Poe had made it clear he wanted to be able to review every word said in the meeting. The tension in the air was palpable as the group sat staring at one another.

Finally, Poe asked, "So, let's start this off with the most obvious question. Why did you leave the First Order?"

"Because I finally realized I was on the wrong side. The First Order doesn't seek to bring order out of chaos. It simply wants control. Control of every living thing in the galaxy. And it will achieve it by any means necessary." Finn sensed clearly that Ren believed what he said.

"Why should we accept that this change of heart is genuine?" That really was the point of this whole meeting, after all.

Rey started to speak but Poe glared at her. She shut her mouth with a grimace, wrinkling her nose in irritation. Ben noticed the exchange between them and felt his jaw tighten briefly in anger. _No one should get to silence her so easily_ , he thought.

Poe pointed at Ben. "I want to hear it from _him_. _Why_ should we trust you or anything you have to say, _Supreme Leader_?" His voice dropped half an octave, with a hint of pure malice. "Convince me."

Ben bristled at Poe's attitude, and then reminded himself they had absolutely no reason to believe him. "I came to you peacefully. I gave up my weapons without being asked to do so."

"You're a Force user. We both know you have far more dangerous weapons at your disposal. But I realize you have surrendered yourself willingly, and we appreciate it." Poe's voice sounded genuine, but Finn could easily read the bone deep suspicions he still had.

"I don't _want_ to be a part of the First Order anymore. I need to try and make amends, however that has to happen. I want to _help._ The actions of the First Order destroyed countless lives. And some of those are my fault." Finn focused intently, trying to gauge Ren's intent.

"What can you offer us? Why shouldn't we just put you on trial?" Poe asked, eyes narrowing.

Rey paled, and Finn felt her terror. That was her biggest fear in all of this, clearly. Chewie gave a low, slightly threatening growl in protest. Lando leaned in and whispered something in the Wookiee's ear.

"I serve no purpose as a corpse, _General_ ," Ren said with a slight sneer. "And you know it. There are fleets of ships remaining that must be tracked down and either destroyed or taken. That was the beginning of the downfall of the New Republic, after all. They failed to completely eradicate the remnants of the Empire."

Lando shifted at that. "He's not wrong."

Poe's eyes flashed. "I am aware."

Ren continued. "There are fall back plans which are probably being followed right now. The First Order has emergency rally points - six of them, as far as I know, spread out across the galaxy. It's possible there may be one or two older ones that I am unaware of in the Unknown Regions, holdovers from the remnants of the Empire. As long as no hostiles approach, orders state that they should wait there two weeks from the arrival of the first ship."

"And you can give us these rally point coordinates?" Poe asked, crossing his arms.

"The systems, certainly. The coordinates themselves are buried within the navicomputer of every First Order vessel. I haven't looked at them for a few years, unfortunately." Ren turned to Rey. "I don't suppose my TIE wound up somewhere convenient?"

"Not really. It's on Ahch-To, but I don't think it will be very helpful."

"Why?"

"I set it on fire so I couldn't leave. That's how I wound up with Luke's X-wing." R2-D2 made a series of beeps and squeals.

Ren shook his head. "Damn it." He sighed and continued. "While on Naboo, I have heard news reports that the First Order flagship was destroyed in a battle with the Resistance in the Unknown Regions, along with the Supreme Leader."

Poe noted that he used the title as if it was an entirely different person.

"The report also stated there had been no statement denying that released by the First Order. Is that still true?"

Poe replied, "It is."

"Which would indicate that most of the ruling council was also killed in that battle. The attacks on First Order forces are likely growing in strength by the day, as no one has stepped up to take charge of what remains. How quickly has this unrest spread through the rest of the galaxy?"

Poe dodged the question. "Later. First, tell me what happened on Kef Bir. Finn tells me you and Rey were trying to kill each other the last he saw."

"Yes, we fought. I went into the ruins of the Death Star in search of the other Wayfinder, just as Rey did. I hoped to stop her from travelling to Exegol alone." Rey looked over at Ren, and Finn could sense her affection for the man. "Palpatine claimed he wanted her dead, but I didn't think that was true. Histories of the Sith would suggest they always have at least three different plans going at any given moment. More recent galactic events would confirm that Palpatine is no different."

"But she was your enemy. A member of the Resistance. The First Order still has a bounty out on her, alive _only_." Poe stressed the last word. "Why would you want to protect her?"

Ren's ears colored as he replied, "I knew all that we could accomplish as a team. The Force connected us again and again. I saw several visions of us ruling together, and I wanted her to join me. To be my partner. I believed we would be invincible. Standing together, we killed Snoke, and defeated his guards."

Finn felt almost sheepish embarrassment coming out of Ren, as he admitted his plans for Rey. As far as he could tell, she did not seem surprised or angered by the information.

Poe asked, "That happened just before Crait, correct?"

"Yes," Ren replied curtly.

"So why didn't you just rejoin the First Order fleet after you two fought on Kef Bir?" Poe asked. "Weren't they headed to Exegol?"

"I didn't want to. The thought was…sickening." Finn sensed that this was a true statement.

"What changed?" asked Poe.

"I did. When the First Order captured Chewbacca, I went in to speak to him. To interrogate him. When he wouldn't answer me, I looked into his mind. And despite the things I had done, despite the way I talked to him, all he thought about was how much he loved me. All the good memories he treasured from my childhood." _Snoke lied to me for years, preyed on my fears. My family had always loved me, even if they sent me away._

Chewie made a soft, mournful sound.

"Not only that, but I felt my mother reach out to me as she died. When that happened, I became fixated on her presence and dropped my saber in surprise. Rey caught it and stabbed me, right here," he said touching a spot on the top of his abdomen. Finn twitched. _Was that a glimmer of pride he felt from Ren? Was he_ proud _of Rey taking advantage of his weakness in battle?_

"And instead of letting me die, she healed me. It sounds remarkably melodramatic, I know, but that act of undeserved grace finally convinced me that I was on the wrong side. From the moment…." Ben paused and took a shaky breath. Rey and Finn both felt another sharp stab of regret flow through him. "Ever since the terrible confrontation with my father on Starkiller, the call to the Light has only grown."

Poe said nothing in response. Finn could feel his exasperation as he watched a muscle twitch in Poe's cheek. "You said Palpatine wanted Rey dead? How did he communicate that to you?"

"I had already gone to meet him on Exegol. Alone. Just after his initial broadcast. I needed to find out if he was actually still alive."

"How was that possible? Didn't he die during the Battle of Endor?" Poe still couldn't believe it.

"The man I saw on Exegol was a clone - kept alive by machines and elixirs. His body was already decaying and smelled like rotting meat. He was being physically consumed by the dark side." Ben shuddered slightly at the memory. "Sith magic made the whole thing possible."

"So what was said? Did you two make a deal?"

Ben sighed. "He made me an offer. Gloated about the vast forces at his disposal. And told me that all I needed to do to get them was to kill the last Jedi." _He also claimed responsibility for the voices I've heard my entire kriffing life,_ Rey heard Ben add internally.

Poe leaned forward. "Why didn't you do what Palpatine asked, and just kill Rey? Wouldn't getting that gigantic fleet have been worth it?"

Ren replied, "No. Not a chance. I had no intention of killing her. Certainly not on his word. Men like Palpatine never keep their bargains. Even had I made the choice to kill Rey, and tried to claim that fleet, I would still have someone trying to control me. It's been that way my entire life. I wanted the throne, with Rey beside me. I knew I could get her to turn. _That_ was my original plan.

Poe typed on his datapad. "Can you tell me exactly what happened after you left Kef Bir?"

"I found an Imperial TIE scout in the ruins of the Death Star that was in one piece. Got it up and running. Then I followed the tracking markers Rey left, just as you did, I suspect." Poe nodded in confirmation.

Ren continued, "After reaching Exegol, I hurried inside. I could feel Rey's presence as soon as I entered the citadel. As I suspected might happen, the guards were not as friendly as the first time. Palpatine had likely sensed my change. Eventually I came face to face with the Knights. For the briefest moment I thought they might help me, but then they attacked. I was losing badly."

"You said you defeated Snoke's guards. I'm surprised you couldn't hold your own against them."

"It was six against one. All I had was a blaster until Rey passed me my saber through the Force. I was in trouble."

Poe's mouth opened as if to ask a question and then shut with a snap. Finn's back twitched at the memory of that sizzling blade cutting across it, the smell of his own flesh burning as he collapsed face down into the snow. He asked, "What happened to your red lightsaber?"

"In the ocean on Kef Bir. I threw it away. I didn't want it anymore." Finn could sense there was more behind that statement, but it was definitely true.

"You said that you were not surprised when you were attacked. Why did you return to Exegol if you thought you'd be in danger?" Poe asked.

"I wanted to help Rey face Palpatine. As I said, I knew she would inevitably go in alone once she found the other Wayfinder in my TIE. I could sense how terribly powerful he was. Some people call the dark side seductive because it is easy. Quick. It responds so well to rage and pain."

Ben paused and looked at Rey, the question in his mind ringing clear through the Bond. She nodded once and replied, _Whatever you want to say, Ben - it's fine. They want to hear your side of the story._

Even with her permission, he still didn't like it. _I hope they won't use this to manipulate her._ "The revelation of who her family was hurt. It made Rey doubt who and what she was. And I could feel the darkness growing, trying to sway her. She gets just as angry as I do. Fights just as fiercely. I saw her hurl Force lightning on Pasaana. In truth, I could sense her rage and pushed her to see exactly what she would do." Ben turned to Rey and said, "I'm so sorry for that."

Facing Poe again, he continued, "The ease with which she was able to manifest that much power was exhilarating to watch. Force lightning is typically a tool of the dark side. It shouldn't be that easy for a Jedi. Especially a relatively inexperienced one. I knew what it meant. I knew she was starting to give in and I wanted to make sure that didn't happen. The possibility horrified me.

"She came on board the _Supremacy_ in an escape pod to try and convince me to turn. To save me from myself. It was only right that I try and do the same for her."

Rey saw the surprise on Finn's face at Ben's revelations, while Poe's expression gave nothing away. Instead he asked, "So, how close was it, Rey? Would you have joined Palpatine had he not shown up on Exegol?" She sensed Ben's temper flare. At Poe and at himself.

"Quite possibly. I was tempted, I know that." Rey felt her cheeks color at the admission, but still lifted her chin to look him square in the eye.

"Facing temptation is frequently part of a Jedi's path," Ben interjected, his voice a little strident with the anger he was struggling to suppress. _How_ dare _Dameron question her loyalty after everything she has given to his cause._

Ben drew in a deep breath and tried desperately to calm down. Losing his temper would be unwise as well as deeply unproductive. He could feel Lando and Chewie watching him.

"So what happened when you reached Palpatine? Were you right? _Did_ Rey need you?" Poe felt like an ass, knowing he was openly goading Ren, but he just couldn't help it.

"In my opinion my presence made things both easier and more difficult." Ben fought the urge to punch Dameron in the face at his sarcastic tone. "Once I defeated my former companions, I met Rey standing in front of Palpatine. He yanked us off our feet, pulling the life energy out of both of us. He had not realized we were a true dyad, having never seen us together. After he siphoned off a frightening amount of our energy, he was _significantly_ rejuvenated. It might have been enough to sustain him permanently, I'm not sure. As soon as I was able to stand again, he picked me up with the Force and threw me into a deep pit, trying to kill me. He almost succeeded."

"I was knocked unconscious by the fall. I awoke to my mother's shade standing over me. Healing me. Telling me I had to get up. Standing in the darkness, I could hear and sense the Force lightning somewhere up above. As I climbed, things shifted. The lightning changed direction, and I could feel a… a gathering in the Force somehow. I was about halfway up the wall when Palpatine died. I felt the blast, the wave of darkness. The stone wall I was clinging to shook." Ben reached out and gently took Rey's hand. "And then Rey disappeared from my mind. She died because she was brave enough to face Palpatine and reflect his own hatred back against him."

Rey's hand trembled. She blinked and could see his painful struggle to cross the stone floor. "Once I reached her, she was already gone. I had already lost everyone and everything that was ever precious to me, so I did my best to heal her, imitating her technique from Kef Bir. It was the easiest decision I have ever made."

"If she was dead, you didn't heal her, you _resurrected_ her."

"I believe the only reason I was successful is because of our connection. I sensed her spirit nearby. She had not yet joined with the Force." Ben's voice was calm, but his knuckles were white as he clung to Rey's warm hand. She felt his pulse hammering against her fingertips. "Shortly after she awoke," _and_ kissed _me,_ "I fell unconscious again. Some time later I opened my eyes to see her sitting beside me. There didn't seem to be any survivors among the Sith cultists, as quite a bit of the ceiling came down. We made our way outside, swapped ships, and departed." He almost laughed at the tidy summation of the painstaking hours they spent struggling back to the surface.

"And Palpatine also died in the collapse?" Poe floated.

"Yes. All the Jedi Masters of old helped me stand up to Palpatine. I remember lying on the floor looking up at the Resistance fleet being cut to ribbons by the lightning. Powered by _our_ life energy." Beside her she felt anger and fear flicker through Ben at the memory of being held in the air and _drained_ so thoroughly.

"I couldn't even find the strength to stand at first. I thought it was all over. And then the ghosts began appearing. Starting with Anakin Skywalker. They supported me. Strengthened me. Helped me to reflect Palpatine's lightning back against him. That's what actually killed him. There was a painful blast of dark energy," _followed by your voice in my head calling me back_ she murmured to Ben through the link, "and I don't really remember much else after that."

_You heard me?_

_I did._

"And all of this happened while we were dealing with Palpatine's fleet?"

Rey nodded. "Yes."

Leaning close to Ben she whispered, "Are you okay?"

He nodded, eyes still looking haunted at the discussion of Exegol. Drawing in a deep breath he said, "What else do you want to know?" Almost instantly Ben's face was once again an expressionless mask, but his emotions were an open book to Rey. He was still rattled and angry. And she was surprised he wasn't physically bouncing with nervous energy. He wanted to get this initial meeting over with as quickly as possible.

Poe answered, looking down at the datapad in his hand. "How about a -"

Lando abruptly cut him off. "A way to track the _Absolution_."

Every head in the room swiveled to stare at him. Ben nodded and blinked rapidly twice. "A good choice." Rey and Finn both felt sorrow and regret. And the flare of hot, burning shame.

Lando continued, "I am sure there are many other questions that Poe has, but that's really what I would like to know." Chewie made a mournful sound of agreement.

"Last I knew, that ship was under the command of General Engell. She was gleeful upon hearing of the offer of the Sith fleet. Tracking it would require access to a First Order computer. Was the _Steadfast_ completely destroyed?"

Finn supplied that answer. "Yes. It went all the way down to the planet's surface covered in flames. I doubt there's anything useful left."

"What about the _Supremacy_? Have you tried to get into it yet? The First Order abandoned it over Crait. The computers were supposed to be scrubbed, but I am sure a good slicer could find something useful. You could retrieve the rally point coordinates as well. I don't have the skills to do that, but I do have passcodes, presuming they haven't been erased. The _Absolution_ would have no reason to change transponder codes, so those should still be the same."

Poe tapped something on his datapad. He then asked, "Which generals might still be alive?"

"I'm not certain exactly which ships went to Exegol besides the _Steadfast_ , but surely Pryde would have taken a few others. It is extremely unlikely he was the only one loyal to Palpatine amongst the generals. Pryde's death is a serious blow to the First Order. He was ruthlessly efficient. He was also never remotely afraid of me, and now I know why."

"As for what leadership that may remain," Ben began ticking off on his fingers. "Pryde went down with the _Steadfast_ , almost surely. Hux and Quinn are both dead. General Parnadee would have likely gone with Pryde as well. She was overseeing the operation on Kijimi."

Poe visibly bristled. "Well, Kijiimi's not there anymore. Destroyed in a single blast, like the Hosnian system."

Ben's mask slipped again, and sadness played across his features. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that. That would have definitely been done by the Sith fleet. The First Order doesn't have anything like that anymore. There were designs in progress, but nothing remotely functional."

"We are aware that each of the Sith fleet's Destroyers had planet killing cannons on board." Poe took a deep breath and let it out, trying to calm down. "Do you have an idea who would be most likely to try and take charge of the remnants of the Order?"

"There are several very good candidates, provided they are still alive. But I think your best bet would be to monitor the rally points and see who shows up."

"Okay." Another series of taps on the datapad. "You said the First Order does not currently possess cannons that can destroy a planet with one blast - but they certainly did. Who exactly made the call to fire on the Hosnian system? Was that you?"

Ben glared, raising his voice, finally letting the defiant anger rippling through him escape. "Are you _really_ that dense, Dameron? No, it wasn't me. Why the hell would I want to see the Hosnian system destroyed? How much time did I spend there as a child? There were other ways to deal with the Republic that did not involve firing that ludicrous unsustainable superweapon and murdering _trillions_ of people." _How long did I watch my mother grieve for her people?_

"Populations can be subdued simply, it certainly doesn't require the destruction of planets, much less systems. The Alerderaanian refugees gave the Empire nothing but trouble for _years_. The First Order should have learned from that but they did not. Destroying the Hosnian system turned those killed into martyrs, and anyone left into zealots."

"Was it Snoke? Who gave that order?!" Poe pressed again, almost yelling.

" _Armitage Hux_ made the suggestion to Snoke, who promptly approved it, _despite_ my protests." Ben's hands clenched into tight fists. "And _Hux_ is the one who personally gave the order to fire, after a grandstanding speech to the troops. You certainly worked with him quickly enough once he started offering you information."

Finn asked, "You knew Hux was the spy?"

Ben's voice was much calmer. "I received confirmation in a transmission from Pryde about Hux just after I left the _Steadfast_ for Kef Bir. I had suspicions about him for some time."

"Hux tried to lie to me." Motioning to Finn, "As I am sure you are aware, Force users can read people _and_ sense deception. How long did he think I would be able to turn a blind eye? He hated me for _years_. Pryde was useful in keeping him under control."

"Why am I being held responsible for the decisions made by Snoke? I was the apprentice, _he_ was the master. The Supreme Leader," he said with derision. _A ridiculous title,_ Rey heard clearly in her head.

Lando stood up. "How about we take a break, and let tempers cool for a minute?"

Poe said, "Yeah. Yeah, that's a good idea."

Ben immediately stood up and stalked off quickly into the shadows, rolling his shoulders.

Finn watched a variety of emotions play across Rey's face. Finally she said to Poe, "He's being truthful."

"I know you believe that. And I don't think you would have given in, but I wanted to see his reaction to the question."

"And mine." Rey challenged him. "You're still suspicious of me because of my Bond with Ben. I know that."

"You knew this was going to be rough. You know there are things I have to ask.

"Just please don't be mean about it. You're a better man than that." She headed away from the group towards Ben.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," he muttered to himself.

It was a few minutes before Rey and Ben returned to the group. Perhaps in a brazen show of independence, Rey actually straddled Ben's lap in full view of the other men, tenderly caressing Ben's face, who actually appeared unnerved.

"Relax," Rey cooed. Her smile was adoring. Softly, she kissed him once, then snuggled against his chest.

Glancing between the couple, Finn awkwardly coughed in an attempt to clear his throat. "I just have one more question," Finn raised.

"Ask it," Ben clipped.

"What are your intentions regarding my best friend?"

Rey almost gasped at this, and even Ben stilled, thrown. "I beg your pardon?"

"What are your intentions regarding my best friend? Her grandfather is dead, thank the Maker, and as her father cannot speak for her, I feel I must raise the issue as a matter of defending her honor."

Rey was torn between flushing red with embarrassment or gazing at Finn with shining eyes. She had heard of planetary customs of fathers carefully screening potential husbands for their daughters. While this might not be a sign of full acceptance of her and Ben's relationship on Finn's part, it was at least an indication that he was getting there.

"If you are allowed to court her," Finn queried. "Where do you hope this union will lead?"

Stroking Rey's arm, Ben was thoughtful in his answer. At last, he spoke: "All my life, I have felt alone, and I was drawn to Rey because she too suffered in isolation. We are kindred spirits. I find her fierce, funny, impossibly understanding, and... beautiful." He grinned down at her, and Rey turned bright pink. "If she will have me, I intend to marry her and do right by her."

At this, Rey actually did gasp, and Ben laughed musically. "Of course, my proposal will be far less informal than that." He turned back to the dark-skinned General. "Have I made my intentions clear, Master Finn?"

"Errr... Yes. You have. Thank you. I... appreciate your honesty," Finn stammered. He turned to his colleague. "Poe, any other final items on the agenda?"

His dark head popped up. "Yeah, sorry. Bee-bee Ate, start recording again, please."

Once they were all settled, Poe looked down at his datapad, and said, "I have some questions about ship complements." They spent over two hours going over every ship, captain, crew, and assignment that Ben could remember. Rey was genuinely surprised when everyone remained civil.

Following that, Poe asked him about every First Order installation that the Resistance knew of. Again, Ben answered every question without hesitation. Rey was mostly silent, but kept an eye on Finn who still stared at Ben like he was an unknown life form.

As soon as they were finished, Poe said, "I need to make this very clear. _If_ you return with us to Ajan Kloss, you will not be allowed to contact the First Order in any capacity. Very, _very_ few people know your true identity. For the moment, I would like to keep it that way, until we figure exactly how this thing is going to play out."

"When will I know if I can go back to your base? I don't suspect you want me striking out on my own."

"No, I don't. And tomorrow, at the latest. I would like a chance to consider my options."

"Very well."

Ben stood slowly, walked over to Poe, and held out his hand. "I appreciate you coming to talk to me."

Poe looked up at him, his warm brown eyes gone wide with shock. Blinking once, as though Ben were an apparition that would vanish, Poe stood and shook his hand. "Uh, yeah. No problem." _You forgot who his mother was for a moment, didn't you, Poe?_

Rey glanced over at BB-8 out of the corner of her eye, and was thrilled to see that little moment caught on the recording. Fighting back a smile, she asked, "So are we done here?"

Finn answered, "Yeah, I think we are. For now."

Poe sighed and set down his datapad. He rubbed his hands across his face, trying to wipe away some of the tension he was feeling. Standing up, he motioned to Finn, his expression still grim. He walked towards the door, Finn following after.

"So? Is this all an act or what? Have you been able to get a read on him?"

Finn nodded. "I almost hate to tell you this, but as far as I can tell everything he is saying is absolutely true. He feels remarkably guilty about killing Han. About all of it, really. And he's been incredibly nervous since he walked in. He still has anger issues."

"Even I noticed that," Poe responded.

"There is no question about the bond she described. They are all, um, tangled up. When you questioned Rey's loyalty, I thought he was going to snap. He's _very_ protective of her. And there's still some dark side stuff there..." He paused for a moment, considering how best to express it. "...But it's very small compared to his Force signature as a whole. Given his actions, I'd be more surprised if there still wasn't a little darkness hanging around him, honestly. But Rey is right - this isn't the same person that tried to kill me on Starkiller Base. Not even close."

Poe grimaced and scrubbed his hand through his hair. " _Shit_." He hissed. "What the hell do we do with him now?"

Finn idly turned over the lightsaber Ben had surrendered to him in his hands. As he touched it, he thought he heard whispering coming over the canopy of the forest trees on the far side of the meadow. The Force surged within him, calling to him in a siren song.

"Poe, clear everything up with the others. I'll... I'll be right back." And Finn floated away in the direction of the forest, and the voice in the Force, calling to him...


	6. Can't Protect Forever

**Chapter 6: Can't Protect Forever**

Finn wasn't sure how long he had walked before he came upon the ruins of a stone temple overgrown with moss and vines. Upon approach, the voices whispering to him through the Force seemed to increase in volume, hiss with more insistence. Following where the sound led, Finn crept cautiously into one vom. Igniting the lightsaber of Anakin Skywalker, he proceeded deeper and deeper into the structure.

At last, a blast of cool wind greeted his face as he emerged into what was surely the center of the temple. By the light of the blue plasma blade, Finn could see hieroglyphics of ancient Jedi facing off against dark warriors with blades of blood red.

Sweeping the walls with his illumination, Finn could not make out another door other than the one he had just come through, as far as he could discern. But on a second pass, however, he was startled to see a square of blinding white light suddenly open before him, mist dissipating from the entryway.

There was something ethereal, heavenly about the passageway that now beckoned to him. Taking a deep breath, Finn allowed himself to be drawn towards and eventually into the doorway of pure white light.

When he emerged on the other side, Finn blinked as he took in the racks of lightsabers on either wall, which framed a room about the size of a small gymnasium. At his feet were soft exercise mats. The windows were shaded by biege blinds with a design reminiscent of Japanese dojos.

In the center of the mats sat a figure in pure white, a cylindrical, smooth mask covering his face.

"Welcome, Padawan FN-2187. We've been expecting you."

"You have?" Finn flicked one eyebrow into his hairline.

"Yes. We must impart on you a dire warning regarding the young Empress. The blood of Sidious. Even now, the dark side calls to her in the form of the embrace of her lover. As she has fallen in love, so too will she fall for the dark side should her union with Vader's descendant be consummated."

Finn's stomach churned. "Ben Solo is a changed man. He wouldn't tempt Rey in such a way. Not anymore."

"Your faith in your friend blinds you, Padawan learner," the Temple Guard retorted. He rose to his feet. "Now stand aside. The Emperor's grandchild and her lover must be dealt with. The Sith will surely rise again."

Alarmed, snarling in determination, Finn ignited her lightsaber. "I won't let that happen."

The Temple Guard whipped out a double-bladed lightsaber hilt, out of which came two bars of yellow light. Leaping forward, Finn pressed the advantage, just as he had on Starkiller. The Temple Guard put up a vigorous defense, soon bolstered by the reinforcement of two more Guards.

Anakin's lightsaber knocked from his hands for a moment, Finn threw out his hand and summoned the hilt back to him. Parry, duck, dodge, leap. It was taking every trick he knew, every Stormtrooper instinct (once dormant) reawakening, just to stay alive. Somehow, despite zero lightsaber combat training since Starkiller over a year prior, Finn managed to hold his own.

Surrounded on all sides, Finn found himself backed up against the wall of lightsaber racks. Reaching around behind him, his free hand closed around a second hilt, red as a Sith's when ignited. Dueling with two lightsabers couldn't be any harder than battling with one. Force leaping with a flurry of kicks, Finn vaulted towards the yellow blades, connecting his of red and blue with a crackle. Holding the lock in place, he growled at the first Temple Guard, who broke the stalemate by throwing out his hand and Force pushing Finn up against the wall. The ex-Stormtrooper fell to his knees, both his sabers HSSHing out.

"You cannot protect Kylo Ren's intended bride forever," the Guard threatened.

Breathing heavily, Finn racked his brain, frantic to find a way out. Recalling his trooper training, he recalled that every training exercise had always held a hidden lesson. Maybe this one was...

"You're right. I can't protect Rey forever. All I can do is wish for her happiness - even if it's with Ben - and do what I've always done: love her the best I could."

He felt the hum of the yellow sabers and he closed his eyes, waiting for death.

Except he felt vibrations from the enemy's saber kiss his shoulder, then the other, and finally hover above the dreadlocks on his head.

"By the power vested in the Masters... by the will of the Force... you have passed the Trials placed before Padawans for generations. Rise... FN-2187, Jedi Knight."

In awe, Finn staggered to his feet. "Actually," he mumbled, "It's Finn."

"I know." The Temple Guard removed his mask, and Finn stared: it was _Ben's_ face behind the mask.

There was a tremor as the Temple rumbled, and Ben gestured to the doorway of pure white light. "You must leave. Hurry!"

And with only a glance back, Finn sprinted out of the Jedi temple...

* * *

Upon leaving the forest and crossing the meadow back to the Varykino estate, Finn sought out Rey, the words tumbling from him as he explained what had happened.

"The Temple Guard said I couldn't protect you from the dark side forever, and I realized he was right. All I can trust is that you will follow your heart and be happy with Ben. He really means that much to you?"

Rey nodded. "More than anything."

Finn smiled. "I'm sorry I didn't trust you when you said Ben had changed. And I'm sorry that I haven't been treating you like the strong, independent young woman you are. I guess I've always felt the need to protect you because you were the first I ever could protect, other than myself."

Mouth falling open, Rey listened quietly.

"Rey, when I was a trooper, I was assigned to a training unit of three other guys. They were my comrades. One of my guys, Slip, was slower than the rest of us and I always felt the pull to guide him out of harm's way, both in combat and training. Phasma discouraged that kind of camaraderie, but I always kept an eye out for him... until he died on Jakku. He was killed in our raid on Taunuul Village. He left a bloody handprint on my helmet, which compelled me to decide that I had to leave the First Order. Then, I deserted, and I met you, and it was the first time I had the chance to live for, protect, someone other than myself. The first time I had a family to protect. You looked at me like no one ever had - like a hero - and I've always wanted to be your hero, too."

By now, tears were streaming down Rey's face as she wrapped him in a hug. Drawing back, placing his hand close to her heart, she blurted out in an emotional tremor:

"Will you give me away? When Ben and I get married, will you walk me down the aisle?"

Finn's answering smile was crinkling and warm. "Of course. A brother should escort his sister to her future."

Rey sobbed, tears splashing down her front as she embraced him again. "Oh, Finny, you're such a darling! I love you too!"

A pronounced AHEM made the pair of best friends break apart. Ben was standing a few feet away, looking sheepish... and perhaps underneath it, a little jealous.

"Uhhhh... Finn... I was hoping to speak with you alone for a moment."

Taken aback that Ben had bothered to get his name right, Finn nodded. Rey tenderly cupped his cheek, kissing the other. "I forgive you. And I'm also sorry for the words I said."

Finn smiled his forgiveness and Rey scampered away, pausing to kiss Ben's lips softly as she left. Turning back to his beloved's best friend, Ben shifted awkwardly.

"Finn... you know how you asked me of my intentions regarding Rey?"

"Yes..."

"Well, I don't want to wait. I... I have a ring. I would like to ask your permission for Rey's hand in marriage before I propose."

For a long moment of silence, Finn studied the broad-shouldered young man with scrutiny and bemusement, sizing him up.

"Well, if anyone is to court Rey, I can't think of a suitor... who is better equipped to protect her." That was the best compliment he could think up in the moment. "And I know she loves you deeply." Holding out his hand, the men shook firmly. "Just be true."

At a whimpering gasp, both Ben and Finn turned to see Rey emerging from behind a bush, eyes wet and looking like her heart was in her mouth. Like she was dying inside.

And when Ben got down on one knee and asked her to marry him, Rey happily, tearfully, said Yes.

* * *

The wedding of Ben Solo and Rey Palpatine was thrown together hurriedly, held out on a secluded terrace the following evening. According to Ben, he and Rey would be wed in the exact same spot where his grandparents had married more than sixty years earlier. Then as now, the star-crossed couple exchanged rings and gave their vows in secret. Rey even wore the wedding dress of the late Padme Amidala - found in a closet at the Varykino estate - as Finn guided her down the aisle. Poe stood by as Best Man, though he looked deeply uncomfortable about it. Chewbacca and the four droids (R2D2, C3PO, BB8 and D-O) were the only witnesses; Lando officiated.

"... by the power vested in me as Mayor of Cloud City, and General of the Rebellion," Lando intoned. "I now pronounce this couple man and wife." The old man turned to his nephew. "You may kiss your bride, Little Starfighter."

Rey giggled musically as Ben turned a potent shade of red, refusing to move for a moment. Trembling, Rey took Ben's hand in hers. Still, her new husband remained rooted to the spot. Batting her eyelashes, smiling softly, Rey crooned, "Ben... I think you're supposed to kiss me."

"Oh, right," Ben came back to himself. And he bent and kissed her, sweeping Rey into his arms and lifting her off her feet as all assembled on the terrace burst into applause.

"I love you, my husband," Rey whispered into his mouth, her voice hoarse with happy tears.

Ben beamed against her. "I love you too, my beautiful wife."

When they broke the kiss at last, Threepio approached the newlyweds. "Mistress Rey, if you would please kneel..."

Frowning bemusedly back at her husband, Rey obeyed. Threepio suddenly procured a tiny tiara and placed it amidst Rey's curly chestnut tresses. "Your Majesty..." he intoned.

Turning to the congregation as Rey got to her feet, the protocol droid proclaimed:

"Presenting for the first time, Their Royal Highnesses, the rightful King and Queen to the throne of Alderaan, Mr. and Mrs. Ben Solo!"

And Ben and Rey raced back up the aisle to their small crowd of well-wishers.

Blinking back tears, Rey happily kissed her husband as she reveled in her new married, last name: Rey _Solo_...


	7. Start Again

**Chapter 7: Start Again**

Rey didn't think she had stopped smiling from the moment she had said I Do.

Canoodling and kissing her new husband in the dejarik booth of the Falcon, her eyes were bright as she held him, stroked his face, though her eyes dimmed with nerves as she felt the ship shudder into landing position for final touchdown on Akan Kloss.

"Sorry I couldn't give you a proper honeymoon, love." Ben was apologetic.

She just giggled and pecked his lips quickly. Then, boldly moving to straddle him, she seductively whispered in his ear, "That's OK. I have plans for you anyway, my darling. I'm as pure as the mountain snows of Hoth and intend for you to remedy it."

"I don't think I needed to know that," the voice behind them winced.

Turning around from where she sat astride her husband's thighs, Rey beheld Poe looking deeply uncomfortable. Focusing on Ben, the pilot stated:

"I have made the decision regarding what's to be done with you once we land. In exchange for your intel, you will not be locked up. I don't think it wise to keep a man from his young wife, anyway." A wry smirk upturned his lips. "No harm will come to you, on my order, as I am classifying you as a refugee accepted for asylum. You will stay with your bride in your mother's former quarters. In return, you will never go off-world without my prior approval. Is it a bargain?"

Though he looked emotional at the mention of his mother, Ben nodded. Rey squeezed his hand supportively, smiling at her comrade.

"Thank you, Poe."

He just shrugged, then lumbered from the cabin.

As soon as the hydraulics to the gangway released, Poe and the others disembarked. The new Mr. and Mrs. Solo were last of all, Rey nestling closer to her lover protectively when most activity in the general vicinity ceased to gawk at the gangly man at her side. Rey noticed more than a few of them spit on the ground at her husband's feet.

Poe raised his hands. "This man has been granted asylum in exchange for valuable information. No one touches him without my authority. He is also quite young in his marriage, so any attempt to harm him will not bode well for you or the new... Mrs. Solo." He gestured at Rey, who blushed furiously, though her gaze was defiant.

A great many whispering could be heard as Rose came forward to hug Rey.

"So this is who you meant," she whispered, nodding in approval at Ben. "Whirlwind romance, I must say."

Rey felt her eyes grow wet. "Thank you, Rosie."

"Yeah, well, I know how you feel," the engineer said, nodding back towards Jannah who was looking at the stouter girl with a gaze that could only be loving.

Rey smiled. "I'm happy for you both." Beaming at Ben and lacing her fingers through his, she tugged him towards base, where they could be alone. "This way!"

As the Solos departed the clearing, Rey noticed a soldier approach Finn. "Sir, we recently had a Stormtrooper defect and surrender to us. He claims to know you." When the trooper in question stepped forward, Finn threw his arms around him.

"Zeroes!"

Once in the safety of Leia's rooms, Rey smashed her lips to Ben's in a heated kiss. Making out frenetically, she felt her spouse quickly grip her toned buttocks in his large mitts and she purred. "Mmmmmhmmmmm..."

Ben threw her trousers down to her ankles and bucked his pelvis, gallingly humping her. Seizing his own arse cheeks in her fists with a growl, Rey worked his mouth open with her tongue in a hot, messy rhythm as she furiously rocked back. Raising her thigh to his waist and hooking it there, she folded herself about him as Ben hoisted her up the walls. Rey's dainty little fingers shook as she undid the straps at his waistband, his pants almost comically falling as he continued to rut against her.

Ben divebombed her neck with kisses. "Rey..." he moaned.

She placed a finger to his already swollen lips. "Ssssssshhhh... Don't speak. I just want this..." and she cupped him brazenly in her fist. "Inside me. Now."

Ben groaned loudly. "What you do to me, woman..." And he took her fiercely. Rey bit back a cry into his shoulder as she felt her maidenhead give way. Sensing her discomfort, Ben kissed her tears away before thrusting low and deep, sliding his wife up and down the wall.

The Bond sang with a connection deeper than ever before, and Rey flicked out her hips in time to every thrust, making pretty little, arousing noises.

"Ummmm... Mmmmmm... Hmmmm... Uhhhh... Ben, I'm gonna cum, Oh, Gods, I'm cumming... Don't you dare stop..." As her wave crested, she clamped tight around him. "Stay," she pleaded. "I want you to place your baby deep inside me."

Ben nearly collapsed as he reached his release, spurting all he had into her.

"BEN!" Rey followed him with a wail.

* * *

It was several months later when the Solos met up with Finn and his close friend Zeroes for dinner along Ajan Kloss's beach. Finn helped Ben cook at the grill until his best friend dragged him away, looping her arm through his as they took a sunset stroll in the surf.

Glancing from him and back to Zeroes, Rey hummed curiously as she observed, "You and Zeroes have gotten quite close."

It wasn't a trick of the evening light when she saw Finn blush. "Yeah, well, we served together..."

Stopping him, Rey peered into his face. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to but is he your partner, or... your _partner_?" She placed greater, knowing emphasis on the second word, watching as Finn's throat clogged up with tears.

"He's both," he got emotionally.

Rey pursed her lips in thought. "I see."

"There were lots of troopers who were in... same-sex relationships in secret, in the Star Destroyer barracks, and we..."

"Finny:" Rey halted him by resting a finger lightly on his lips. "I'm happy for you. And I love you no matter what."

Finn looked elated and stunned. "You accept me anyway?"

"How could I do anything else... my friend?" Taking his hand, Rey brought it to rest on her belly. "I have a surprise for you," she trilled.

"A surprise? What is it?"

Rey beamed, eyes sparkling. "I'm pregnant."

Finn's hand stilled along her stomach. "What did you say?"

Rey's smile weakened. "I'm going to have a baby..."

"But you're too young to have a baby!"

She snorted and swatted at him. "I am not, Mother! Besides, girls I knew on Jakku got pregnant younger..."

"All right, all right," Finn chuckled, hugging her against him. He fingered the wedding ring on her finger. "I'm happy for you."

"I should hope so," Rey laughed. "You're going to be an uncle." Lifting her head, her brown eyes blinked back tears. "I want you to promise me something."

"Anything." Finn's voice was fire.

"If anything happens to me or Ben, Maker forbid... will you look after it? As the baby's godfather?"

"You have my word."

Rey's eyes shone wetly. "Thank you." Taking his hand, she led him back to the grill, now tugging at Zeroes' arm. "Your turn."

Zeroes was a jovial man. Bright eyes, and a unique laugh. "As you wish, my lady." He and the Jedi Master ambled along the beach. Rey at last broke the silence.

"Finny tells me you and he have been seeing each other."

Zeroes nodded nervously. "That is true..."

Rey laughed. "Relax. It doesn't bother me. What I do want to know is, what are your intentions with my big brother?"

Zeroes side-eyed her amusedly. "I can see why he favors you so," he noted. He cleared his throat. "But to answer your question honestly... I was going to ask him to marry me when the time is right."

Rey grinned, pleased. "How wonderful. Just please, come to me for permission when you are ready."

"I would never want to dishonor your closeness with Finn," Zeroes insisted fervently. "He is very fond of you."

"And I of him," Rey smiled sentimentally.

"So I take it I can call you my new sister-in-law?"

Rey smirked wryly. "You may. Just please don't openly express any... changes you might see in my body over the coming months. And be quick about that proposal - I don't want to be as big as a house when I walk down the aisle at your wedding."

Zeroes' eyes widened, and he hooted. "Many happy returns..." Jerking a thumb back at Finn and Ben, he asked, "Think they'll get along?"

"Well, they refrained from trading punches at Ben's and my wedding reception, so I think we're in the clear. As long as your future husband doesn't castrate mine in a fit of protective rage any time soon, I'd say we're good."

Zeroes chuckled. "Let's hope..."

* * *

Rey breathed deeply as she clutched at her swollen baby bump while scouring the streets of Canto Bight. At her side, Finn peered up at the arena before them warily.

"Never thought I'd be back within a hundred lightyears of this place," he grumbled, antsy.

"Why? What's wrong with it?" Rey glanced to her friend, concern in her eyes.

"It's a racetrack. For the fathiers. It's a gambling hotspot in this here town. Rose and I were detained there after being arrested at the casino cross the street, just there." Finn pointed down the way. The casino was empty now at this time of morning, except for the lone bouncer guarding the place.

The cobblestones rumbled at their feet to announce the stampeding approach of hooves from just inside, followed by a crescendoing wave of cheers. Rey winced. Running animals ragged for sport and the offchance of riches... suddenly, she didn't find Canto Bight so glitzy and wonderful anymore. She felt Finn's eyes on her, empathizing.

"Rosie hates it too. She never seemed proud to be from here."

Rey blinked. "This is her homeworld?"

Finn nodded. Then, glancing past her, he spotted a white Stormtrooper patrolling on the sidewalk across the way. The visor wasn't looking in their direction, but Finn still felt squeamish. He grabbed Rey's hand.

"Come on. Stay low." They ducked into the throng of people streaming into the racetrack. The crush of bodies was nearly overwhelming the ticket takers and the two young people took advantage of this by limboing under the turnstiles. Rey supposed she could have used a Jedi mind trick if she had no other recourse, but she figured she should only use her Force powers when she absolutely had to.

The tunnel opened up into the arena proper, Rey and Finn emerging onto the sidelines along the racetrack. The Jedi observed quadrupeds thundering around and around in a circle, kicking up dust. In the stands above, people in suits and wearing fine jewelry were tossing around coins and credits wantonly, as though the stuff was as abundant as water. Meanwhile, janitors and stablehands were working in the shadows far below, sometimes wearing clothes little better than sackcloth and toiling away just to get by.

Rey knew the feeling - intimately - and she found herself bitterly glowering at the disparity between the haves and the have nots. The fathiers galloped by them going into another turn and as the hoofbeats faded, a sudden CRACK could be heard, followed by shouting.

"GET THAT BRIDLE ON NOW, YOU SLOW BRAT! THIS BEAST'S IN THE NEXT HEAT!"

Finn elbowed Rey gently in the arm, nodding. "Look yonder."

Rey followed his gaze. At the yawning mouth of one tunnel, about a quarter of a way around the arena from where they were standing, a loping alien was pushing a young stable boy to the ground. Between them, a newly bridled fathier was nickering and rearing back on its hind legs.

Rey's eyes narrowed as she took in the boy. Even as he was flat on his back, he glared up at his supervisor defiantly. The fierceness did not remain in his eyes for long though, as the alien (who reminded Rey bitterly of Unkar Plutt) activated a taser and reared it back threateningly.

"STOP!" Rey called out, but the din drowned her out. So she pelted forward towards the commotion.

"Rey!" Finn yelped, but he had little choice except to chase her down.

It was surreally effortless, how Rey threw up her hand upon closing in on the alien and stablehand. The taskmaster barely had a chance to look up at her, brow furrowing in confusion, before the Force was lifting him off the ground.

Rey's face twisted into an ugly snarl, and she tightened her fist, crushing against the creature's windpipe. The alien clawed at his throat, its lumpy and tan skin rapidly turning purple. Little piggy eyes bugged out and he started to squeak.

Rey sadistically flashed him a truly vile sneer and twisted her wrist. There was a CRACK similar in tone to an old space rifle being fired as the alien's neck was severed and he dropped to the ground.

The stablehand boy was gazing in bewildered awe at Rey. "It's you," he finally breathed out. "The new Jedi everyone's been talking about."

Rey cast her eyes down to the boy. He had sandy brown hair, curious hazel eyes. Dirt and grime on his porcelain skin. A wide smile, as he grinned up at her with admiration and hope. Rey could tell he had the heart of a rebel... and, as she probed his aura further, the potential of a Jedi.

This boy was Force sensitive...

The boy was now glancing to Finn, the same amazement in his eyes. "I remember you! You're that guy with the Resistance who passed through here some months ago!" Grinning broadly, he eagerly flashed out his fist, so that Rey could see a ring on his finger.

And with that, Finn recognized the boy - it was the one whom Rose had given her ring to as they were escaping this place.

Rey glanced between the boys. "You two know each other?"

Finn nodded. Rey turned back to the boy and helped him to his feet. "What's your name, kid?"

"Temiri Blagg," he chirped. "Are you here to free us from the First Order?"

Before Rey could answer, Finn spotted a Rodian from yards away, pointing at them while chittering to a pair of Stormtroopers. His eyes bulged. "We gotta move..."

In a split-second decision, Rey grabbed Temiri's hand and pulled him along. "Follow me." The little stablehand seemed only too happy to oblige.

PING! PING! Red blaster bolts pierced the air, whizzing past their heads, Rey yelping and ducking.

"You there! Halt!" The steady thud of combat boots was gaining. PING, PING, PING!

"Come on, Temiri!" So saying, Finn flipped the boy onto his shoulders and began to sprint even faster after his best friend. Temiri hung onto Finn's neck for dear life, bouncing along. Ironically, he seemed to be having a grand old time, even with troopers firing at their backs.

They reached the end of the tunnel leading out of the arena.

"Halt in the name of the First Order! Detain those fugitives!"

The turnstiles locked in place. No matter. Rey Force pushed the ticket-takers out of the way and leapt over the stile.

"Hold on, Blagg!" And bending his knees, Finn actually Force leapt after her.

Rey did not have time to show pride in her friend's accomplishment, done with almost no training, for the blaster bolts hurtling after them forced the trio on their way.

"We can't go back to the high-rise; we'd lead them straight to the others!" Rey cried out.

"What do you suggest?" Finn bellowed back, as they hair-pin turned around a corner.

"The Falcon!" Rey hollered, just before needing to skid to a stop as a small squad of troopers blocked their path, blasters drawn.

Just before they could open fire -

POW! POW! Green lasers suddenly whizzed over the group's heads, hitting and scattering the battalion in their path. Glancing to her left, Rey jumped to find a masked figure at her side, in purple and chrome armor similar to Zorii's, a blast pistol smoking at her hip.

"Go!" The figure's mask snapped to meet Rey's amazed stare. "I'll cover you!"

The trio made a break for the _Falcon_ , the mysterious gunslinger bringing up the rear. Racing up the gangplank with their charge, Rey tossed back a few credit notes to the bounty hunter in thanks as Finn fired up the rear thrusters. They were airborne and breaking atmo within seconds, before making the jump to hyperspace.

* * *

Ben's sleek cruiser dropped out of hyperspace just beyond the orbit of Peragus II.

"This had better be the last training Academy we have to check," Zorii huffed.

"Damn straight," Poe lowered himself into the co-pilot seat, having just come from the fresher. "I thought that the training Academy on Rakata Prime was the only one. I had no idea there were others."

At the pilot's wheel, Ben glanced to the slightly older man and shook his head. "Oldest authoritarian trick in the book, Dameron. Back in the days of the Empire, the Emperor had trained assassins that were known as the Emperor's Hands. Only thing was, each Emperor's Hand thought they were the only one. They had no idea there existed any others. Ignorance can be a powerful tool, my friend. It stifles camraderie."

"Thank the Maker we have a reliable slicer, then," Zorii nodded to the monkey-like creature tinkering with the main computer.

Seeming to sense they were talking about him, Babu Frik glanced up from his work and let out a screech. His gnarled fingers flew over keys and datapads. Craning his eyes over to observe, Ben nodded, "OK, Frik's hacking into the Academy's archive files... downloading..."

The cruiser entered atmo. Poe glanced over Frik's shoulder nervously.

Ben felt a wave of adrenaline through the Force Bond just then, and his grip tightened on the wheel, turning a little pale as he thought of his wife, off finding Force sensitives with Finn. "Rey's found a potential new Jedi. But... she's running. What if she gets kidnapped? Or killed? What if something happens to the baby?"

"I'm sure Little Miss Jedi is fine, dude," Zorii scoffed. "Maybe it's just as well."

Poe turned to her slowly. "What did you just say?"

Zorii's glower held his stare evenly. "Oh, please, like you haven't thought she might still turn into her granddaddy's little heir! She's already knocked up with a crown prince that she'll be grooming!"

Ben had gone very still in the pilot's chair, and Poe's face twisted hard. "You have no idea what Rey's like! She grew up all alone and abandoned on the most godforsaken planet in the galaxy -"

"Sure she did," Zorii snorted. "Some holier-than-thou, over-emotional, all-powerful Jedi girl -"

"That's enough." The command was leveled without raising his voice, but Ben didn't need to - his eyes had become coals. "Be very careful what you say next, bounty hunter, or I will be defending my wife's honor, and I don't care if I crash this ship while doing it."

Zorii sat back, chastened, before storming back for the fresher in a huff. Poe mouthed 'Sorry' to Ben.

Dipping in through the clouds, the two men could see the First Order Stormtrooper Training Academy - the fifth one the group had encountered so far - approaching in the distance. It was at that moment that Babu Frik let out a triumphant shriek. Poe perused the main computer console.

"Hack successful. He's got them!"

"Scan the files. See if you can find any serial numbers," Ben instructed. "We're pulling out!"

"Wait," Poe glanced up at the viewfinder as they cruised closer to the Academy. "What's that? Fly low."

Wincing, Ben flew as low as he dared, slowing up on the thrusters as he did. Even going at a Rodia snail's crawl, the cruiser would be passing over the Academy walls in a handful of parsecs.

Out in the courtyard, there seemed to be some sort of commotion, as First Order officers clad in black maneuvered Stormtrooper cadets clothed in white plating - but, crucially, even from this distance, Poe could see they were _without their helmets_ \- up against one wall. In a guard tower, Poe spotted an officer readying a submachine blaster and aiming them towards the helpless troopers!

"It's a firing squad!" Poe cried. And suddenly, all those scorched-earth, ghost town images from the previous training academies - Rakata Prime, Ord Mantell, Carida - made chilling sense. "They'd rather turn on all their own men and burn this facility to the ground them have it captured! We have to stop them! You've got turrets guns on this cruiser, don't you?"

Ben winced uncertainly; it was probably the first time in his life that Finn had seen the suave billionaire appear fazed. "Yes. But, Dameron, you think this campus has anti-aircraft guns? Wait a parsec, what am I saying? - I should know the answer to this question! Of _course_ they'd have guns!"

"And ships," Poe chimed in.

Ben gnashed his teeth. "And so the balance shifts..."

"Not if we're faster!" Zorii's voice suddenly hollered from the gunner's port.

The cruiser was nearly on top of the Academy courtyard. The officer in the guard tower was swiveling the submachine blaster towards the back wall. A deep tremor overtook Poe's body. "Will you let them burn down the whole lot?!"

"No," Ben growled. "Zorii, fire NOW!"

Zorii lit the courtyard up.

Officers and stormtroopers alike immediately ran for cover as Ben's turret guns took out the guard tower. Cutting the thrusters, Ben taxied the cruiser down into the courtyard, landing as the last of the officers fell dead. In all, about 30 Stormtroopers remained alive and huddled against the back wall.

Lowering the gangplank, Poe crossed down the ramp and beckoned to his former comrades-in-arms.

"Come on!"

None of the troopers moved. Except for one light-skinned male, who drifted closer a step or two, before large brown eyes dawned in recognition. "It's Poe Dameron! The Resistance lives!" Turning to his friends, he waved them forward. "Come on, lads!"

All 30 liberated troopers charged up the gangplank, Poe waving them on and shaking their hands. "Close her up, Solo! And take off!"

"We're on our way!" Ben flashed him with a winning smile.

The cruiser lifted off from the courtyard and blasted towards and out of atmo. Ben's cruiser had a large back cargo hold, so Poe got the liberated Stormtroopers comfortable there. He was just crossing back up towards the cockpit when Zorii attacked him by the fresher.

Before Poe knew what was happening, Zorii had pushed him up against the wall, flung her arms around his neck, and kissed him exuberantly. It took the stunned Poe a parsec or two to react, but once he did, he returned the kiss with such enthusiasm that he lifted the beautiful bounty hunter off her feet. Spinning them both, he slammed her into the closed fresher door. Zorii growled and bit down on his lower lip, moaning happily. Poe groaned with equal piteousness and felt his hips buck of their own accord. Every gyrating thrust of his pelvis made Zorii wriggle with pleasure and she hummed happily. "Hmmmm..."

All at once, a clearing of the throat could be heard, and Poe and Zorii snapped apart, their arms still around each other. Ben just smirked, then returned to the cockpit.

"You were wonderful," Zorii beamed, gazing up into his eyes with admiration.

Poe chuckled bashfully. "You were the one firing those turret cannons." Lacing his fingers through hers, he gave her hand a squeeze. "You don't need to feel jealous of Rey. We're just best friends. Hell, she's like my baby sister."

Radiant, Zorii stood on tiptoes and lightly pecked Poe's lips. "Good. I've never had a sister-in-law before."

Poe grinned in delighted wonderment. "Why, Miss Bliss, are you proposing?"

Zorii just smirked. "Maybe."

"Poe!" Ben called. "Stop making out with your girlfriend and get up here! Babu found the serial number file!"

Glancing to his new girlfriend, Zorii grinned and squeezed his hand back. "Go."

And a practically vibrating Poe headed for the cockpit.


End file.
